Schools across the nation are filled with students and educators facing critical mental health issues and staff shortages, and principals are lacking the necessary resources needed to handle this growing crisis .
Being politically inactive during this crisis is not an option. Administrators must clearly articulate the needs of their schools to policymakers.
To do so, we have to organize. Council of School Supervisors & Administrators (CSA), AFSA Local 1, Government Affairs Director Gabriel Gallucci and AFSA Political Strategist Jon Bernstein provided key insights into forming political action committees (PACs), as well as Washington’s recent COVID relief packages for schools.
School leaders have to be cognizant of the severe emotional toll this pandemic has taken on students, staff and ourselves. Our communities are facing pains that aren’t always physical, and we need the tools to help them.
AFSA concluded its “Summer of Learning” series with a session on providing mental health resources in the time of COVID, led by Dr. David Schonfeld, director of the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement. Schonfeld offered a wide range of methods to help students and adults cope with extreme circumstances.
