Dolores Schools are one step closer to a school-based health clinic.
The district was awarded a $25,000 planning grant from the Colorado Department of Health to determine costs, design and construction plans.
Superintendent Scott Cooper said the initial grant opens the door to future grants to pay for construction and staff. The Dolores health center project is in collaboration with the Southwest Open School, which has run a successful student health clinic for many years.
“SWOS saw our need, and reached out to help us establish a satellite clinic in Dolores,” Cooper said last week.
Dolores is seen as a high-need area for medical services, because its only medical practice shut down last year. If the district can land a larger grant for construction in the fall, the health clinic could open for the 2018 school year.
The Dolores campus would be remodeled to house the medical clinic, which would have its own entrance. It would address student mental and physical health needs, offer sport physicals and provide immunizations. The clinic would also be open to the public.
To respond to student mental health needs, the school is also adding an elementary school counselor. The new position is in addition to lead counselor Karen Finch, who will continue her duties and also train teachers and staff on how to handle student mental health issues and behavioral problems.
Cooper said the additional counselor and training are needed as students and staff continue to deal with emotional stress after a student suicide last fall.
“We’re in a situation where a lot of students are experiencing toxic stress, and we’re reaching out to them and to staff to further assist them,” he said. “To have another counselor is addressing a real mental-health need in the school.”
Cooper said there continues to be a lot of student calls to the Safe to Tell hotline, an anonymous tip service that alerts teachers, counselors and principals to students who need help.
In addition to the two counselors, the district has an academic advisor, Jen Stark, who is a licensed social studies teacher. She assists students with career plans and has counseling training to handle the social and mental health needs of students.
Also, the school has applied for funding from Colorado Health Access Fund that would pay for a behavioral health specialist for three years.
Cooper said the school district is dedicated to increasing mental health services for students, despite a budget crunch due to lower student enrollment.
The student enrollment count is down by 57 this year, in part because open enrollment for students outside the district decreased as many decided to go to the new Montezuma-Cortez High School.
The lower student count means a $177,000 drop in state funding, and will result in the district cutting four teaching positions and the dean of students position. Some staff were offered reassignments to other open positions.
“We had a smaller budget due to lower enrollment, but we found a way to further trim the budget in order to add in a special education teacher and new counselor because that is a critical need right now,” Cooper said.
Dolores is also waiting to hear if they have been awarded grant funding to open an infant toddler center next door to the Teddy Bear preschool.
Currently there are 735 students in the Dolores School district.
Also, in February, the Dolores School board approved a contract extension for Superintendent Scott Cooper until 2020.
jmimiaga@the-journal.com
