Standards for a candidate to lead Burbank Unified’s mental health program come into focus
Burbank school officials recently carved out a new job description for a mental-health-and-wellness coordinator, a move that comes weeks after the school board adopted Burbank Unified’s first-ever mental-health master plan.
The 5-0 vote to approve the position on May 19 signifies the first step they’ve taken to implement the district’s mental-health-and-wellness plan, which was approved on April 21.
The plan was created, in part, in response to increased reports of student depression and anxiety.
School officials spent about six months developing the plan, which outlines five overarching goals: a district wellness center to streamline student referrals; a social/emotional curriculum to promote mental health and wellness; reduced barriers for students to receive mental-health services; a districtwide culture based on positive social interactions; and ongoing education for staff and families about student wellness.
The annual cost for bringing on a mental-health-and-wellness coordinator totals $120,500.
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The coordinator will help families by guiding them to school-based and non-school-based mental-health services, and developing social- and emotional-learning programs for students, staff and families, according to a district report.
The coordinator will also have an active role in opening a wellness center at John Burroughs High School, similar to the center that opened on Burbank High this year.
The qualifications for the job were initially drawn up to require that the coordinator have a California teaching credential, but board member Steve Ferguson asked to remove that requirement.
“I don’t personally believe that somebody just with a teaching credential necessarily has the background per se to facilitate these kind of interventions,” he said.
Board President Larry Applebaum suggested that the teaching credential be placed instead under the “preferred, but not required,” section of the job description.
“I think knowledge of the classroom would be extraordinarily helpful in this position because you have to really be able to interface between the mental-health world and the education world and that would be a huge bonus if we had somebody who could fit into that mold,” Applebaum said.
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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
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