By Linda Conner Lambeck

WESTPORT — A program adopted three years ago by Westport public schools to address student mental-health issues is still paying off, the Board of Education was told last week.

Effective School Solutions, an in-school program that is providing therapeutic interventions at Staples High School and now the district’s two middle schools, has so far helped bring four students back to the district from outside placements, while an estimated nine others did not have to be placed in programs outside town.

The program now costs the district about $600,000 a year, according to Elio Longo, the district’s chief financial officer. That compares to an estimated cost savings of more than $1 million, according to data supplied to the board.

On top of that, officials say students in the program have seen significant academic improvement, better attendance and fewer disciplinary issues.

The investment is significant, but so too is the positive impact on students, Supt. of Schools Thomas Scarice told the board.

The New Jersey-based program works in conjunction with district counselors, offering weekly individual and group therapy sessions as well as family counseling.

Between the three schools, some 27 to 29 students have been involved in the program at any one time since the start of this school year, seeing program interventionists an average of four times a week.

The high use of the services shows the program is doing something right, Maribel Nierenberg, regional director for ESS, told the board.

“We feel like we are making a critical impact on mental health outcomes” in the district, Nierenberg said.

Nationwide, suicide remains the second leading cause of death for teens and young adults. Some 22 percent of high school students have seriously considered attempting suicide, according to recent statistics.

The program uses a comprehensive approach to keep students with intensive mental health challenges coming to school and attending classes.

Parents surveyed give the program high marks.

“It’s been a blessing for our family,” said one mother, who told the board she has two daughters in the ESS program.

Another said her son, who used to refuse to go to school, is now in the building 90 percent of the time “It’s a huge turnaround for him,” the woman said.

Abby Gordon-Tolan, the school board’s newest member and former co-chair of the district’s Special Education PTA, said she has heard from families pleased with the program’s impact.

She asked if the district has considered extending it to the elementary schools.

Assistant Supt. Mike Rizzo said not at this time.

Although some students could benefit from the program, it would likely have to be centralized in one location and force some students to be relocated from their home schools to a site where the program could be offered.

Board Vice Chair Dorie Hordon said she is excited the program made its way to the middle schools. “Where can the program improve?” Hordon asked.

There is a need for more counselors, Teressa Giolitto, the ESS coordinator at Staples High School, told her.

Budget revision for assistant principals turned aside

The board also briefly considered amending the $147,300,744 budget proposal for 2024-25 that it approved earlier this month.

Board member Robert Harrington, one of three members who voted to add funding to hire two assistant elementary school principals to the bottom line, asked for the reconsideration because the proposal was not approved on a tie vote.

At the last meeting, Gordon-Tolan, who had not yet been sworn into the panel, indicated she was in favor of adding the two positions. They would add nearly $430,000 to the bottom line.

“The budget should represent what a majority of the board thinks,” Harrington said.

His suggested the board rescind its previous vote and re-vote. His motion failed 3-to-4, with all Democrats voting no. The two Republicans, Harrington and Hordon, along with Jill Dillon, an independent, voted in support.

Sports gifts

In other action, the school board accepted $72,694 from booster clubs to support assistant coaches for seven spring sports, including baseball, boys and girls lacrosse, boys and girls outdoor track, boys rugby and girls tennis.

The funds pay for all or part of 18 assistant coaches, who are supplemental to the head and assistant coaches funded by the district.

The board was also provided with data to show that the extra coaches do not cause equity issues between teams, but instead are based on student participation.

Spring sports attract 391 male student athletes and 305 females, according to data provided to the board. The coach per student ratio for boys is 11.85 to one and for girls, 11:09 to one.

Freelance writer Linda Conner Lambeck, a reporter for more than four decades at the Connecticut Post and other Hearst publications, is a member of the Education Writers Association.