OISD brings mental health, social services to campus

The Olney school district has partnered with state and local groups to offer students new mental health and social services on campus this year, Madison Ickert, director of OISD Social Services, said at the board of trustees Aug. 29 meeting. The school district signed an agreement with Texas Tech University to access the TCHATT (Texas Child Health Access Through Telemedicine) program that provides several West Texas schools with licensed counselors, therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists, she said. “[The program] provided every campus with the medical equipment they would need for intake, to prescribe medication, and with an iPad to be able to have those counseling sessions with a licensed counselor,” Mrs. Ickert said. OISD partnered with Helen Farabee Centers to host a substance abuse group on campus on Thursdays. The district is working on logistics to soon allow Graham Psychological Associates to use a building across the street from Olney High School to see students who require counseling, she said. “Counseling is a big need. I’ve already worked with six individual students this year for self-harm. I’ve already had three suicidal students. It’s the third week of school,” Mrs. Ickert said. “Right now a student is missing half a day to go to counseling in Graham or Wichita Falls. This keeps them in class.” Teachers and staff suffering from burnout and low morale have access as well, she said.

The school district also has set up need-based programs, such as “pink pantries” filled with feminine hygiene and hygiene products, donated by the Junior League of Wichita Falls, and food boxes for indigent families provided by Hamilton Street Church of Christ. Individuals and businesses in the community yearly donate money that is earmarked for the Olney ISD benevolent fund. These funds are used for nearly any need a student has from school supplies to shoes and clothing. Air Tractor has also donated $5,000 worth of clothing and shoes for the campus clothing closets for children, she said. “If you’ve got a kid who is sitting in class hungry or worried about what’s going on at home or doesn’t have the right clothing and they keep getting sent to the office, they’re not going to learn anything,” Mrs. Ickert said.