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Kansas City superintendents say they'll focus on mental health as students return to school

Three people seated inside a radio studio, sitting at microphones. The woman at right is speaking and gesturing with both hands. The other two men appear to be listening to her.
Carlos Moreno
/
KCUR 89.3
Kansas City, Kansas, School Superintendent Anna Stubblefield, right, talks on KCUR's Up To Date on Aug. 30, 2024 with school superintendents Hickman Mills' Yaw Obeng, left, and Dr. Michael Schumacher from Shawnee Mission School District.

Summer break has come to an end, and students and staff have made their way back into classrooms across the Kansas City metro. Superintendents from both sides of the state line joined KCUR's Up To Date to discuss how they're addressing mental health challenges and cellphones in schools.

Teachers, administrators and students are looking at ways to address mental health as students return back to the classroom for the new school year.

Dr. Michael Schumacher, the new superintendent at Shawnee Mission School District, said part of the district's five year strategic plan will focus on addressing mental health.

"That's a new one for us," Schumacher told KCUR's Up To Date. "Our students really pushed us to recognize that we have a need for that within our student population, as well as our adult population."

Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Anna Stubblefield said all of their schools have social workers and behavior health specialists.

"The social emotional component, we have curriculum around it," Stubblefield said. "So it's been integral in how we have looked at students for a while."

Cellphones, which can also have a significant impact on a student's mental health and education, is another challenge the districts are navigating.

Shawnee Mission School District and Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools are still figuring out the best way to address phones at school, which Stubblefield described as a "hot issue." The Hickman Mills School District has turned to secure pouches to restrict access to cellphones during the school day.

"When the students arrive, they get to put it into this case, it gets sealed and then no access to it during classrooms," said Hickman Mills Superintendent Yaw Obeng. "And it really has decreased the amount of social media posts from classrooms."

"We want technology in the classrooms, but we want to be able to use it for learning," Obeng said.

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When I host Up To Date each morning at 9, my aim is to engage the community in conversations about the Kansas City area’s challenges, hopes and opportunities. I try to ask the questions that listeners want answered about the day’s most pressing issues and provide a place for residents to engage directly with newsmakers. Reach me at steve@kcur.org or on Twitter @stevekraske.
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