Ashland School Committee approves mental health counseling partnership, hears Mendez grade options

ASHLAND -- January 22, 2020, Ashland School Committee approves school-based mental health counseling partnership and weighs Mendez Elementary grade expansion. The committee voted unanimously January 22 to authorize Superintendent Jim Adams to enter into a partnership with Advocates Community Counseling of Framingham, which will place clinicians in district buildings during the school day at no salary cost to Ashland, billing instead through private insurance and MassHealth. Director of Social-Emotional Learning Jen Cutler said the program targets the estimated one to two percent of students who cannot access outside treatment due to waitlists stretching up to 18 months. Separately, Adams and Mendez Principal Mike Kyra presented options for the MSBA-tied building project, including an 845-student, grades-two-through-five configuration that would relocate preschool students from Pitaway Elementary, which faces an estimated $900,000 in deferred repairs, to Warren Elementary School, effectively closing Pitaway. No vote was taken on the grade configuration; a community feedback process is underway with a district recommendation due January 26.