Indian River tackles stress

A group of federally funded counselors is coming to Indian River schools to offer support to students feeling the stress of having family members and friends deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The government program is reaching out to north country schools, among others in communities around the country near military bases that have had soldiers deployed multiple times. The program is available to all students, whether from military families or not, because the whole community feels the stress of a deployment, Indian River Superintendent James Kettrick said.

The Indian River Central School District Board of Education approved the Military Family Life Consulting Program at a Thursday meeting.

"We see it as a positive program because it brings more people in to help the guidance department deal with multiple deployments," Mr. Kettrick said.

The counselors are civilians and licensed social workers, and may be local or brought in from elsewhere. They are contracted by the Department of Defense and the U.S. government-affiliated Mental Health Network. Counselors will not be allowed to treat students medically or prescribe medications.

The district was notified of this optional program in late June, Mr. Kettrick said.

Under the plan, there will be one consultant in each Indian River school, with the exception of a single consultant who will move among three of the district five primary schools.

The program has been active on base previously, when 16 consultants came to Fort Drum when the 1st Brigade Combat Team came home in November. Indian River's approval of the program on Thursday signals the first time consultants will be going into north country schools.

The starting date for the program hasn't been decided, but it is expected to start during this school year.

Before voting on the program, some Indian River board members voiced concerns about some of its provisions. The concerns included giving non-staff members access to students and the schools, the possibility of interfering with course instruction by taking students out of classes for counseling and the ability of program operators to reassign consultants after three months.

The district will address the issue of access by sending consent forms to parents, which they will need to sign to grant a consultant access to their child. Once the program begins, the district will give the consultants identification cards, which they will need to gain access to the building and to speak to students, Mr. Kettrick said.

"As a parent, I would be opposed to my kids talking to these people. We're giving up control when we already have counselors," board Vice President Thomas J. Lapp said.

District officials also said they would like to see the reassignment provision changed so the counselors can work with the same person for a longer period of time. Officials said they are unsure how the reassignment process works, including whether the counselor would be assigned to another school or out of the district.

"I would hate to have a student feel abandoned. It would be like, 'Dad left and now you're leaving, too,'" board member Elnora M. Durgin said.

Mr. Lapp was the only board member who voted against the program.

Fort Drum education officials couldn't be reached for comment about the counseling program on Friday.

Despite the concerns, Mr. Kettrick said the overall feeling about the counseling program in the Indian River district seems to be positive.

"With this program we get more hands in here to help deal with stress," he said. "And the more help we get with that, the better."