School board candidates support more mental health care, differ on approach

By Nina Wilson

Anne Arundel County Public Schools would need to spend $7 million more annually starting in fiscal year 2027 and hire 55 additional therapists to meet the mental health needs of its students.

St. Mary’s County Public Schools would need to hire 25 more therapists and spend $2.9 million more annually.

Frederick County Public Schools would need to spend $10 million more a year to hire a full-time therapist in every school.

And it’s all because of a bill passed by the Maryland General Assembly that became effective in July. The bill states that each public school in Maryland is required to hire a full-time therapist. That’s a big change for many schools, which only had part-time therapists.

Maryland schools averaged one counselor for every 309 students last year. The American School Counselor Association recommends one counselor for every 250 students.

With that new law aiming to bolster youth mental health services in the state, many Maryland school board candidates who responded to a Local News Network questionnaire agreed schools need more resources. Some called for more collaboration between parents and schools, and a few said their school district was handling student mental health adequately.

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All the candidates tended to agree on the importance of mental health.

“Our district should treat student mental health as essential to learning, safety and long-term success,” said Sharyn Yuloff, a school board candidate from Somerset County.

The call for more counselors

There’s an obvious reason for the state’s call for more counselors. The percentage of high school students in Maryland who have reported feeling sad or hopeless almost every day for over two weeks peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic and has remained steadily above 30% since.

With the new law’s requirements pending, the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission in June announced $96.3 million in grants to help expand behavioral health services in every Maryland public school.

Despite increases in funding and hiring more therapists in Maryland public schools, only eight of the 66 school board candidates that filled out Local News Network’s campaign questionnaire said schools had enough resources.

Meanwhile, 45 school board candidates said schools need more mental health resources.

“I believe that our school district has the personnel and resources in place but still needs additional funding and resources to meet the growing needs of our student population,” said Rae Gallagher, a Frederick County school board member who is running for reelection. “This can only be achieved with additional funding or reallocated funding, which is unlikely in the current constrained state and local budget.”

Harford County school board candidate Aaron Boyle said while mental health training and resources are improving, the district has much work to do.

“Support for kids with disabilities, modern training and curriculum implementation has been slow moving,” Boyle said. “I would like to explore the military school system methods [and] resourcing and discuss with experts within Maryland and our community with the intent of improving overall support for mental health and disability support.”

Other candidates said their school districts face personnel issues.

Baltimore County school board candidate Lisa Mack said the school district shortened psychologists’ contracts from 12 months to 10, resulting in a pay decrease. This has caused many to leave for other school systems.

“These professionals are part of the team that includes school counselors and school nurses who are there to help students experiencing mental health issues. We must ensure that we create conditions where these professionals stay at Baltimore County Public Schools and are available to students,” she said.

Parental involvement

The Centers for Disease and Control Prevention found in 2024 that relationships between schools and parents can lead to higher academic achievement, improved health and enhanced social skills.

Some school board candidates said parents should be more involved in their child’s mental health instead of or in partnership with school staff and resources.

“I think that the schools are doing all they can for the mental health of the students,” said Cecil County school board candidate Dominick Mannella Jr. “The school, however, is not the end-all, be-all in this area. The parents need to be involved and also get their child the help they need. Most schools in general are not equipped to handle all of the complexities nor should they be.”

Tyler Walker, a former teacher running for the school board in Frederick County, said he believes schools should support families and parents should be first in making decisions for their child’s mental health.

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“Frederick County Public Schools has dedicated counselors, mental health professionals and community partnerships, and those resources are important, particularly for students facing anxiety, bullying, self-harm, crisis or other serious challenges,” he said.

Shannon Hinkhaus, an legal assistant running for the school board in Carroll County, said she believes the county has mental health resources and schools should be focused on education.

“Schools have an important role in identifying concerns, supporting students and connecting families with appropriate resources, but schools cannot and should not replace parents or outside mental health professionals,” Hinkhaus said.

Schools must remain primarily focused on education and academic achievement while also making sure to address the legitimate mental health needs of students, she added.

“We should evaluate whether our current resources are effective, identify gaps in service, and work with families and community providers to address those gaps without shifting responsibilities that belong outside the school setting,” Hinkhaus said.

That sort of evaluation may be perpetually disappointing, said Gene Malone, who is running for school board in Wicomico County.

“I question whether you can ever have enough resources to adequately deal with the many mental health issues of today’s youth,” Malone said.

– Capital News Service is a student-staffed reporting service operated by the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Stories are available at the CNS site and may be reprinted as long as credit is given to Capital News Service and, most importantly, to the students who produced the work.