Mental health centre nearly closed, saved by one post

What happened

The 2026-27 budget closed the wellness centre serving the middle and high school after a federal grant worth about $970,000 a year was cancelled, along with a separate $250,000 school-based mental health grant. The social worker who ran it told the board on April 29 that the service handled three to five walk-in visits a day, up to five mental health crises a week and an active caseload of more than 100 students, and asked which posts were being funded instead. A high school counsellor pointed out publicly that everyone else paid by the grant had already left or been reassigned, so keeping the centre open needed only one salary. Two weeks later the board gave that social worker a permanent contract and the superintendent said the wellness centre would keep operating, with crisis management and intensive therapeutic services continuing on the unified campus, and a running caseload of 120 to 150 students.

Why it matters to families

This is the service a student uses when they need somewhere to go during the day, and for a few weeks in spring it was gone. It survives now on one permanently funded post rather than the grant-funded team it had, so its capacity is smaller than it was; the district is exploring a university partnership and continues existing family-services partnerships that have been scaled back. A student representative told the board at least twenty students used the centre every day and called its loss unfortunate.

The evidence

The 2026-27 budget presentation lists the closure of the middle and high school wellness centre under reductions to mental health support services and lists the cancelled trauma-informed grant at $970,000 a year covering 2.5 full-time posts and a cancelled school-based mental health grant at $250,000 a year. The April 29, 2026 recording contains the social worker's account of three to five walk-ins a day, up to five crises a week and a caseload over 100, and the counsellor's statement that only one salary was needed. The May 13, 2026 recording records the board approving his contract and the superintendent saying the wellness centre will continue to operate, with a running caseload of 120 to 150 students.

The source