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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did not maintain records. Of the 320 staff training records we reviewed at the
five Districts, 162 staff (51 percent) completed the mental health training by
September 15, 2020; the other 158 staff (49 percent) did not (Figure 4).
FIGURE 4
Did Staff Complete the Required
Figure
Mental 4 - Did
Health Staff Complete
Training the
by September
Required Mental
15, as Required? Health Training
by September 15, as Required?
Yes No
Staff who did not complete the mental health training by the required date
included:
ll Teachers, assistants, aides, substitutes, coaches,
ll Nurses,
ll Principals, Assistant Principals,
ll District Superintendents,
ll Counselors, administrators, technology staff,
ll Bus drivers, clerical workers, custodians, food service, maintenance and
other non-instructional staff.
District officials generally told us there was a lack of monitoring to ensure all
employees completed the mental health training and that the COVID-19 pandemic
resulted in extra time being allotted beyond the required date to complete such
training. In addition, officials from 17 Districts told us that the COVID-19 pandemic
resulted in them focusing their attention on returning students to school safety for
in person learning.
Training staff in a timely manner can assist in identifying mental health issues in
students early on to get help when needed and potentially avoid having to react to
crisis situations or emergencies.
6 Of f ic e of t he New York State Comptroller