Feds Terminate Grant for Mental Healthcare Training at Rochester Schools

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- A federal grant to fund mental healthcare training for staff at Rochester Public School District (RPS) has been terminated. 

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That’s according to a letter addressed to the district community from Superintendent Kent Pekel. 

The letter, which was issued Tuesday morning, says the U.S. Department of Education informed RPS of the funding being shut off on April 29. 

U.S. Department of Education Terminates Rochester Public Federal Mental Health Training

The district was awarded a $1.9 million grant to fund licensing and preparation for staff to provide mental health services for RPS students. Pekel says the grant money is scheduled to end on December 31 of this year. 

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“The termination of this grant is a big step backward,” Pekel wrote. Pekel’s letter says the grant includes “an appropriate and common-sense emphasis on helping people of color and Indigenous people earn the degrees they need to provide mental health services in our schools.” 

He says two-thirds of the participants are from those backgrounds and the remaining third are white. 

The letter says the grant seeks to raise the number of mental health professionals who are underrepresented when compared to the demographics of the RPS student body. 

Pekel says the program does not exclude people from other backgrounds and life experience from participating. Participants in the program are enrolled in Winona State’s Social Work program and their tuition is covered by the grant. 

The federal dollars also cover pay for substitutes covering for staff who are going through their internships and mentoring and supervision. 

Pekel says six people are set to become licensed this Spring, which will allow them to serve as mental health professionals in the district’s schools. 

The grant termination prevents more than 24 RPS staff members from becoming licensed for mental health care in the district. RPS plans to file a request for the federal education department to reconsider the grant termination.