Rochester City School District leadership announced this month plans to provide students with additional mental health supports in the next academic year.
The move follows recommendations presented by a district ad hoc mental health committee. School board member Isaiah Santiago spearheaded that initiative in response to the death of a School of the Arts student last spring. The student was experiencing a mental health crisis on campus.
At a recent school board meeting, Santiago said while the recommendations include establishing a mental health awareness campaign and professional development for staff, the effort would benefit from student participation.
“With creating the campaign, with talking about trainings for students, there's nobody better that you can find in this district, no matter what degree, no matter what experience, that will be better than the feedback of the young people who are living the experiences right now,” Santiago said.
Superintendent Eric Rosser said the Office of School Culture and Climate, led by Director Jessica Nordquist, will be tasked with implementing changes to student wellness supports — with additional money to enable those efforts. He did not specify the exact amount of money that would be allocated in the 2026-27 budget.
“Much of what [the committee] articulated is aligned with what I know to be best practices providing greater opportunities for our children to be able to have their mental health and wellness needs met,” Rosser said.
“That's very important in our school district,” he added, “particularly as many of our students are confronted with issues outside of the school environment that lead them in places where they definitely need the support.”
The approach will unfold in waves, he said, starting with identifying where district staff identify the greatest need.
“Let's say we have a classroom teacher who has a lot of referrals for students out of the classrooms, or a high number of suspensions,” he said. “We will then target our professional learning around those individuals.”
Efforts to train more staff and teachers will ripple out from there over the course of several years, he said.
