The Board of Education was updated on the School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) grant efforts by Melissa Brymer, the district’s mental health advisor, during its meeting on Tuesday, September 16.

As Superintendent of Schools Joseph V. Erardi, Jr, explained at the meeting, Dr Brymer has been in Newtown for the last 20 months.

“We just completed our last immediate services grant and are working on the extended services, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to say where we are at and where we are going to go for the next year-and-a-half,” said Dr Brymer.

For the last immediate services grant, Dr Brymer said about two dozen staff were hired, “to really foster the recovery efforts,” and those efforts extended to each of Newtown’s public schools, St Rose of Lima School, and Fraser Woods Montessori School.

“Many of our goals was … highlighting first and foremost the social, emotional, and universal interventions,” said Dr Brymer.

Two intervention programs, Second Step and SOS (Signs of Suicide), are continuing this school year, according to Dr Brymer. Last year, she said, for the SOS program, 175 students were evaluated to determine whether they needed school-based supports, outside community health services, or emergency care.

Other efforts from the last year, according to Dr Brymer, included making sure there were evidence-based practices for students and staff who were affected by the tragedy, and offering parent forums throughout the 2013–14 school year. Both of those efforts will continue this school year, according to Dr Brymer.

The district’s recovery staff held more than 2,000 individual, group, or classroom interventions in the 2013-14 school year, according to Dr Brymer.

“We have the numbers, but now we want to make sure what kind of difference are we making,” said Dr Brymer. “So one of the goals for this year is to make sure we do better in terms of screening, finding out which kids are needing the services earlier…”

Services will be a bit more streamlined, Dr Brymer said, with the focus on Sandy Hook Elementary School and Reed Intermediate School, both schools that have students who were impacted by the events at Sandy Hook School on 12/14.

Other supports will be offered to the three other elementary schools, according to Dr Brymer, but it will not be as concentrated. She also said efforts will be made to ready Newtown Middle School for students who were affected by the events entering the school next school year.

“As we are developing or implementing these interventions,” she said, “we need to adapt as these kids grow in their developmental milestones. They are going to need different interventions, and so making sure that our staff adapts to them.”

This year, Dr Brymer said a wider range of needs will come up. Some students will need fewer services, while others will need more intensive support. She also said different needs may arise.

“It’s not going to be surprising if substance abuse and use services are going to be needed,” Dr Brymer said.

She also said staff will be prepared to monitor for risk signs of depression.

Other needs that may occur could include academic needs, and Dr Brymer said booster sessions, like one offered this last summer, could help students.

One area Dr Brymer said she thought needed improvement, was making sure families affected by the events of 12/14 have the resources they need.

“So this year we have a family assistance coordinator, who’s sole job is to track those families that were most impacted by this tragedy,” said Dr Brymer.

Dr Brymer also said the extended services grant will run through August 2016, and future work will look into long-term plans for resources that will be available after grants end.