During the 2015 legislative session, lawmakers in Helena passed the “Suicide Awareness and Prevention Training Act.” Having schools full of professionals who are trained in what to do in case of an emergency in these regards was the intention of the legislation.
The Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI) is the agency designated from the law to provide access to training for school employees. Helping students who are struggling with these issues is a serious concern across Montana and America.
This October the Big Sandy School Board began to examine its own school safety policies, in particular the board policies for coping with the threat of student suicide. This effort to improve the Big Sandy Public School’s policies and procedures exceeds the standards laid out in the legislation from 2015. The policies currently being developed are comprehensive in scope as to how to help students having a mental health crisis.
The BSPS has a wide range of resources to help students who are struggling. Within the school system, there are two school counselors with Master’s degree level training. Students have people they can talk to, and parents have these resources to communicate with when they are concerned about their child. Furthermore, BSPS has licensed mental health counselor who visits weekly to give an additional level of care to students. For a school system of its size, having three counselors on hand through the week allows for access and opportunity for students to get help.
Part of the policy that is currently being developed will involve training for all teachers on how to better react to a mental health crisis. All BSPS staff will likely be trained under the QPR (Question Persuade Refer) system, which educates people on signs to look for when a student is struggling. Also involved in the QPR training is instruction of what steps should be taken to keep someone safe. Altogether, these precautions are aimed at helping BSPS to be a safe environment for students to learn and thrive in.
Questions, comments, or if you know of a student who is struggling you can contact School Counselor James Anacker at 378-2406 or email Janacker@bigsandy.k12.mt.us .
