Dear NUSD Community,
The Novato Unified School District Board of Trustees honored retired drama teacher Linda Kislingbury at their meeting of October 5, 2021. Dr. Mark Sims nominated Linda for this honor by naming the Lobby at the Emily Gates Performing Arts Center in Linda’s
name. Linda, Scott, her family, and many former parents and students shared their incredible stories of Linda’s talents and impact on their lives.
Now we have two amazing women recognized for their extraordinary work as they continue to support the performing arts at San Marin. Congrats to you Ms. K!
Tik Tok Themes Adversely Affecting Our Students
You are probably aware of the Tik Tok recommendations for each month. These recommendations are a serious issue as social media continues to target young people who are impressionable and to respond to some of the challenges recommended on Tik Tok. NUSD suffered mightily on the September focus area which was “damage a school bathroom.” We experienced varying degrees of damage to sinks, toilets, soap dispensers, toilet covers and toilet paper holders. Each month the severity of the recommendations increases. We need your help.
We will be applying a strict discipline response to any students who are willfully damaging school property or hurting another student or adult. I am listing the areas of focus for each month so you can speak to your children to avoid any of these behaviors. It is frightening to hear how many “hits” Tik Tok records and rewards followers for the number of hits they receive on their posts.
You can help us by discussing this manipulation of our youth by Tik Tok and social media. The following are the themes.
October Slap a Staff Member
November Kiss Someone Else’s Girl
December Deck the Halls with Graffiti & Trash
January Jab a Female
February Destroy School Signs
March Make a Mess in Cafeteria/Yard
April Grab Boys Privates
May Skip School
June Flip off the Front Office
July Spray a Neighbors Fence
Please help us eliminate these behaviors at school by discussing these egregious acts as a family.
Mental Health Providers Appreciated-North Marin Community Services and Bay Area Community Resources
Leslie Benjamin and I had a very sobering conversation with our mental health providers at our monthly meeting. Our partners who are dedicated to continue to provide mental health support to our students are North Marin Community Services and Bay Area Community Resources. The sad truth is that we have funding for mental health services, an undeniable need to support, and no applicants for the positions. The team of Karin Grove, Don Blaskey, Cheryl Paddock, and Alaina Cantor shared the experiences of our support providers and the increased caseloads at each of our schools due to the aftermath of the pandemic and the continued trauma so many students and adults are experiencing. Teachers, classified staff, and administrators, are working closely with our providers as they see and experience increased mental health needs among our students. Although not unexpected after such tremendous isolation, and in some cases lack of supervision, our students are exhibiting challenging behaviors that everyone is addressing on a daily basis.
Our community partners expressed concerns about the increased number of cases and the seriousness of the cases. Both agencies are experiencing inability to keep up with the referral requests, time for clinical record keeping, and reaching out to parents. Each group is providing the following services, even as they continue to be understaffed and awaiting qualified applicants to fill the open positions.
Services include the following.
- Responding to parent and staff referrals
- Creating intervention plans
- Screening and developing a triage plan for services
- Addressing issues beyond the typical scope of mental health services due to the pandemic
- School based cases are typically mild to moderate cases and a risk assessment is completed to determine if triage and referrals to a treatment team are needed beyond the school setting.
- If families have Kaiser they should access services through their medical service providers, which would be helpful.
NUSD has a supply of school calendar magnets that also list local mental health services. The elementary schools will distribute these to each family and the secondary schools have supply in the main office for pickup. You can also download the calendar here.
Masking
Marin County Public Health has updated their requirements on masking effective October 11, 2021. While masking is required indoors, unless there is a medical or behavioral contraindication or exemption, masks are now optional outdoors. In general, masking is not needed when outdoors (e.g., participating in outdoor play, recess, and physical education activities.). Staff and students should follow C D C and C D P H face covering guidance.
Please know everyone is trying their best to provide services as we await the applicants to fill the needed positions. Your help in eliminating Tik Tok activities and accessing mental health services, if you have Kaiser coverage, are deeply appreciated.
Respectfully,
Jan La Torre-Derby, Ed.D.
Superintendent