ST. PAUL - St. Paul Education has requested an increase to Family School Liason Worker (FSLW) program from the Town of St. Paul, Town of Elk Point and Town of Two Hills, while also requesting continued support from the County of St. Paul to support the program.
The FSLW program supports students across the St. Paul Education region, and each school in the division receives FSLW support, with a total of 14 support workers in place.
"The FSLW program offers a wide variety of services that include supportive informal individual and group counselling, crisis management, case consultation and initiating referrals to other agencies," explains board chair Heather Starosielski.
She adds, "While these services have always been very important to the social and emotional development of our students, the pandemic has certainly created additional needs for our students and families. As we navigate these challenging times together, our FSLWs have been working hard to share wellness strategies and mental health resources with our school communities."
The program, however, costs about $847,000 to run.
"This current school year, we received a total of $58,500 from municipal partners leaving the division to cover the remaining $788,500," explains Starosielski. "The division directs funding from our Education grant money, which is normally targeted for classroom education."
"Funding from our community partners is essential," says Starosielski.
On Nov. 22, Town of St. Paul council discussed the request from St. Paul Education at its regular council meeting.
The school division requested that Town council consider increasing funding for the 2022/23 school year.
"We can increase next years budget amount for the FSLW program by whatever amount Council thinks is appropriate, but based on the information in the letter from from Chairperson Starosielski, an increase to $18,500 would be appreciated for 2022," said CAO Steven Jeffery.
A motion by Coun. Norm Noel to consider increasing the grant amount was made.
"I would like to highly support this process," said Mayor Maureen Miller. "The FLSW program really is putting mental health supports around youth in our schools."
The $18,500 requested is very well budgeted, and "every penny" is put to use, said the mayor.
The Town contributed $15,000 in the 2021/22 school year, and contributed $10,000 per year previous to that.
The Town of Elk Point did not contribute to the FSLW program for the current school year, although the municipality is assisting with some funding toward the Elk Point Outreach School.
The Town of Two Hills contributed $10,000 for the current school year and the school division has yet to receive a response regarding the request for 2022-23 funding, as of Dec. 3.
"Mental health support for our students has never been more critical while we continue to feel the impacts of the ongoing pandemic," says Starosielski. "Originally, the FSLW program was funded and managed by municipalities.Over the years it transitioned to our school division. Having the counsellors in our schools allows for students to have easy access."
According to Starosielski, "Access to these services provides students with the opportunity to learn the skills they need to be healthy citizens of their community," meaning the program's benefits reach beyond the classroom.
The County of St. Paul contributes $30,000 to the FSLW program, and the school division did not ask for an increase, but instead asked the municipality to maintain the same level of funding for the next school year.
In an effort to best support students and families during the pandemic, the school division is looking to hire an additional 0.5 FSLW for St. Paul Regional High School.
"The division is very grateful for the support of our valued stakeholders in supporting this program that is critical to the health of our students," says the board chair.
Christmas concerts
At a special St. Paul Education meeting held on Nov. 29, the superintendent reported that Christmas concerts would be done virtually this year, "due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions."
Schools will be be allowed to hold various other Christmas activities, which may include a Christmas meal being served. Parent volunteers may be required to help support some of these events, reported Brodziak.
Bags for breakfast
The St. Paul Education school division has received a donation of $19,200 from the Co-op Bags for Breakfast Program. The funds are put toward schools’ breakfast programs, benefiting students in all schools in the area.
