Publisher's summary
We audited the following 20 school districts (Districts) to determine whether the Districts used resources to provide the mental health component of the New York Safe Schools Against Violence in Education Act (SAVE Act) training requirement to staff: Bellville-Henderson CSD, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake CSD, Canandaigua City SD, Coxsackie Athens CSD, Crown Point CSD, Dover UFSD, Eden CSD, Goshen CSD, Greenport UFSD, Harborfields CSD, Livonia CSD, Malone CSD, Port Washington UFSD, Rye Neck UFSD, Schalmont CSD, Seaford UFSD, Unadilla Valley CSD, Waverly CSD, Wellsville CSD and West Genesee CSD. The 20 Districts we examined did not provide mental health training to all staff for the 2020-21 school year by September 15, 2020, as required by New York State Education Department (SED) regulations.
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Appendix B: Responses From School District Officials
We provided a draft copy of the global report to all 20 Districts we audited and
requested a response from each. We received five written responses. Fifteen
Districts chose not to respond (Belleville-Henderson, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake,
Coxsackie-Athens, Crown Point, Eden, Goshen, Greenport, Harborfields, Malone,
Port Washington, Rye Neck, Schalmont, Unadilla Valley, Waverly and Wellsville).
Canandaigua City School District and Livonia School District officials provided
comments that were specific to their own Districts and were not included in
this appendix. The following comments were excerpted from the three written
responses that addressed the draft copy of this report.
Dover School District officials said:
“The audit period…took place in the height of COVID when the priority was the
physical and social/emotional safety to allow for students and staff to return to
school in person in September. During this time, it was necessary to get staff up
to speed with all COVID protocols and procedures…as well as address the high
levels of anxiety in staff, parents and students.”
“…[W]ith teachers scheduled to return to school during the first week of
September, the opportunity for this training is limited to less than two weeks to
meet the [September 15th] deadline.”
“While the District understands the importance of this training, New York State
continues to add annual educational requirements that must be met by all school
districts; the time required for these trainings continues to grow. It would be very
beneficial for school districts to have some of these trainings required every other
year, rather than annually … allow[ing] for more in-depth, meaningful training. …”
Seaford School District officials said:
“…[R]esources from the US Department of Health and Human Services website
entitled, What Educators Should Know. …[H]ad not been updated since 2016 and
many of the links are no longer active.”
“In looking at the SED Guidance document, we interpret the spirit of the document
to provide educators with resources to choose from when developing and
delivering mental health training. …”
West Genesee School District officials said:
“We strongly believe a broader scope of the audit would more accurately reflect
the history of training …the time period analyzed was during a historic anomaly
that impacted all areas of society including that which is its epitome; education.”
“Uncertainty as to whether schools could even operate in person was at the
forefront of every school district. …NYS missed a significant opportunity to
address mental health and mental health training at that time. Rather than a
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