CONTINUED FROM 1
INCREASING MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT
Lake Travis ISD
Eanes ISD
Leander ISD
$5M $4.5M $4M $3.5M $0M $150K $120K $90K $60K $30K $0K
$2.75M $2.5M $2.25M
$22M $20.5M $19M $17.5M $0M $1.6M $1.48M $1.36M $1.24M $1.12M $0M
BUDGETS FOR GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING SERVICES Eanes, Lake Travis and Leander ISD budgets over the last ve years show steady increases in budgeted amounts for guidance and counseling services for students. BUDGETS FOR SOCIAL WORK SERVICES Over the last ve years, budgets for social work services, which are used to hire licensed mental health professionals, at LTISD and LISD have mostly increased. EISD’s budgets, however, saw a decline.
$2M $0M
$225K $180K $135K $90K $45K $0K
19 School counselors
95 School counselors
23 School counselors
RESOURCES IN SCHOOL DISTRICTS
5 School-based therapists
10 School-based therapists
12 School-based therapists
All three districts o er mental health care resources on their campuses.
12 School psychologists
12 School psychologists
47 School psychologists
SOURCES: EANES ISD, LAKE TRAVIS ISD, LEANDER ISD COMMUNITY IMPACT
said Lacey Branker, a licensed clini- cal social worker at Lake Travis High School. “Schools in Texas really have an opportunity because you have such a large platform, and you have access to these students to really be able to create programs in schools that enable us to provide a more sim- pli ed version of support across the board to help students.” Branker said she believes stigma is also a huge component of why acces- sibility to mental health care in Texas is limited as well as a lack of mental
years re ect the increasing need for more mental health professionals to be added to sta . LTISD increased its budget for guidance and counseling services from $3.08 million in the 2018- 19 school year to $4.62 million in the 2022-23 school year; EISD increased its budget from $2.08 million to $2.49 million; and LISD increased its budget from $16.72 million to $21.14 million, according to district documents. Heidi Sauer, EISD coordinator of counseling and social-emotional learn- ing, said the district has three layers of
health care providers. “There’s a huge burnout rate because there are so many needs and not enough providers,” Branker said. “More than that, there’s not a lot of resources and access, unfortunately.” School district services All three school districts in the Lake Travis-Westlake area—Eanes ISD, Lake Travis ISD and Leander ISD—employ a variety of mental health professionals. District budgets over the last ve
mental health professionals—school counselors, licensed school-based therapists and school psychologists. “Our school-based therapists are for any student,” Sauer said. “They’re accessible to any student or family who needs help.” School psychologists, Sauer said, pri- marily serve the needs of special edu- cation students. LTISD’s mental health professional sta include school counselors, social workers and school psychologists, said Surita Scholla, an eighth grade
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