Due to recent budget cuts, JCPS has been thinking of laying off many employees, including counselors and mental health practitioners at Ballard High School. At the same time, there is a massive snow storm headed for Kentucky and other states in the South. Students have been asking for snow days throughout the week, and they are asking for even more next week due to such cold temperatures. These two things may seem to have no correlation, but a post on Ballard’s mental health Instagram account stated that snow days would improve Ballard students’ mental health.
As of recently, snow days and NTI days have been on the rise because of the winter storm that came a few weeks ago. Various students all around the school said that they really enjoyed getting a break, and some have noticed that they started to feel a lot less burnt out. Snow days in general provide time for students to relax, sleep, and recharge their batteries. Giving students more time to do all these things would significantly improve mental health at Ballard. Even most NTI days, when there’s less workload, allow students to sleep in and lay back when they desperately need to.
Due to these cuts, JCPS has considered laying off mental health practitioners in high schools, including Ballard. If they decided to do this, students’ mental health would surely plummet. Sometimes the counselors at Ballard are the only people that students are able to talk to. Whether that’s because of a bad home life, judgmental friends, or even just the feeling that nobody would listen, the counselors provide a safe space for Ballard students every day.
The mental health of Ballard students is how snow/NTI days and budget cuts relate. With more days off or just less stressful work, mental health would rise significantly in students. They would come back to school refreshed and energized, more focused, and less likely to feel stressed the first few days after the break. On the other hand, budget cuts and less mental health resources for students would cause a significant decline in student mental health. Therefore, students and parents are strongly urging JCPS to not lay off mental health professionals.
