JARRETT GOODMAN
Staff Writer
Discussion surrounding a Letter of Agreement between the Marion County Board of Education and Volunteer Behavioral Health surfaced during the board’s October meeting.
Mark Griffith, Director of Marion County Schools, stated that despite a Letter of Agreement being made, the board was unable to collaboratively receive the Signs of Suicide (SOS) program alongside Volunteer Behavioral Health. Carol Bailey, Director of Coordinated School Health, explained that the board was aiming to acquire additional curriculums alongside Volunteer Behavioral. The program of choice: SOS through MindWise Innovations.
SOS was formed to educate middle and high school students about the different signs of depression or suicide, and how students can help to identify each one. The program can be used universally accessed across multiple schools and requires no training to utilize.
Upon the board applying for the program, a notice was sent out for Bailey, Volunteer Behavioral, and the state to officially sign and have ready a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the program. The MOU needed to be signed and prepared, then sent to the state by Oct. 17. However, because of board policies and procedures causing holdouts in the process, in addition to the short time span, both the board and Volunteer Behavioral had to prepare all paperwork, the board was ultimately unable to acquire the SOS program.
“We were not the only schools that had to pull the request because it was such a short turnover,” said Bailey.
Volunteer Behavioral Health is a collaborator with the county school system, providing behavioral health assistance to each school for students in need. Despite the board of education not acquiring the SOS program, Bailey has stated interest for the board to pursue it once more in the future when the opportunity reoccurs.