Billings Public School District Two will ask voters in May for a safety levy to include more mental health and physical health professionals and more.
Yellowstone Public Radio’s Orlinda Worthington spoke with the superintendent about the district’s additional needs.
Friday, January 5, a Billings teenager was killed in a car crash. It was the fifth fatality in three weeks involving students in the Billings School District. Superintendent Erwin Garcia spoke with YPR Monday morning, just after a visit to West High where the student attended school.
“That is today reacting to this. This issue that we see, but from the proactive side, the area of mental health support is an area of need in the city of Billings. This is beyond Billings public schools,” Garcia said.
While there is a crisis team in place there for students and staff, Garcia says the district is in severe need of more mental health professionals to help students and staff through tragedies like this recent event, and other needs. When he came to the district in 2023, he said there was zero support for mental health, with the exception of special education programs. The district has since received a grant to add one full time and one part time counselor, which Garcia says is not nearly enough.
“We have to be able to bring more counselors. Gang prevention. Also dropout prevention programs, also two and tier three supports for our students when it comes to behaviors,” Garcia said.
Garcia says the district plans to ask the public in May for a levy to help provide more counselors, nurses, and gang and dropout prevention units.
In Billings, I’m Orlinda Worthingon.
