This is the text of the May 11 Sumner School District meeting of the Board of Directors. Tonight, there will be a second May meeting of the board so as to coincide with the Sumner High School Senior Showcase. The meeting is at 6 p.m. at Sumner High School.
Sumner High School will outsource some counseling services to Latino-focused agency Consejo Counseling and Referral Service, effective as of an unanimous school board vote at the Wednesday meeting.
The agreement was established under the district understanding that funding for social and health services is shrinking, Executive Director of Teaching and Learning Erin LaVerdiere said. The result is a widening gap between the counseling needs on campus and the resources to satisfy them.
“At the request of our Sumner High School counselors, we began a relationship with these counseling services,” LaVerdiere said.
Consejo specializes in counseling for behavioral health, substance abuse and domestic violence, with an emphasis on families and children. The company’s stated target demographic is the Latino community, but LaVerdiere noted the agency would be open to anyone. They had success in the Bellingham school district, which is only about 30 percent hispanic, she said.
Under the agreement, the agency does not have a direct contract with Sumner School District. Instead, the district will make referrals to Consejo and open access to Sumner High School to Consejo counselors. That access includes initial assessments of potential clients, educational group discussion and case management.
Consejo is a private agency that charges for its services. The agency sets fees on a sliding scale payment system so as to be affordable to all clients.
Because they will be taking up residence on a school campus, the outside contractors will be subject to the same background checks as teachers and staff.
Board member Greg Hanon said he approved of the plan, but wanted to make sure the district had regular oversight of the outside counselors.
“I would like some oversight somewhere between the background check and the daily check-in,” he said. “What I would like to see is an additional level of oversight via monthly meeting.”
In other school board news:
• the board accepted a contract bid from Pease & Sons Inc. on the modernization of Maple Lawn Elementary.
• the board was presented with a new standards based middle school report card, currently under development by the Middle School Reporting Committee.
• Executive Director of District Business Debbie Campbell presented the results of an audit on the school budget. There were no serious problems, she said, but the auditors did note that State Fiscal Stabilization Funds were improperly used to purchase working materials. The mistake was chalked up to a misunderstanding with the vendor of the materials.
• The board reviewed impending changes to district policy on harassment, intimidation and bullying, to be in compliance with new Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction policy.
