State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly was at Wausau East High School to share her proposed budget with students, and talk about how to address the mental health issues kids are dealing with.
The Superintendent said down with several Wausau East students who shared their own experiences with mental health issues, and what they've seen from their peers.
Sophomore Gavin Merriam talked about how one issue that weighs on several students, is feeling overwhelmed by classwork and jobs, and not having good enough systems in place to help them talk about their stress.
Merriam said, "We just get super stressed out and the way that our school structure works is that, sometimes we are not able to go and talk to an adult because our class load or our schedule won't allow us to."
Another student that spoke up was Senior, Jada Coleman. She said that it's important for officials to hear what they have to say, and she's glad to know someone is listening.
Coleman said, "With classes, and work, and life outside of school, it can be stressful already, and knowing that people are fighting for us to have someone to talk to about our mental health, is actually very helpful."
Underly's proposed budget would give over $304 million to districts across the state to help them improve the mental health of students. One concern shared by students that Underly said she hopes to address, is staffing in school counseling offices.
Underly said, "Focusing on supporting school districts, and hiring more pupil services staff. So those are school counselors, school social workers, and school psychologists, so that they can meet the unique and growing needs of our students."
The students said that current counselors are very helpful, but they just need more of them. Underly said that discussions like this are helpful for her when she writes up her budget.
Underly said that she will send her budget to Governor Evers, who will send it to the legislature to be voted on next year.
