Leaders of Gwinnett County Public Schools earlier this summer approved more than $50 million in spending, mostly from federal relief funds, to address students’ academic and emotional needs as COVID-19 continues to disrupt education.
The school district will nearly double its corps of social workers and hire tutors as well as additional employees to oversee social and emotional learning, said Jeff Mathews, assistant superintendent for leadership development, at a recent school board meeting.
“A lot of these are already in progress, and they have been implemented and are moving forward,” Mathews said.
Four different ad hoc committees that looked at pandemic recovery and staffing in the school district recommended the initiatives, including the hiring of 19 additional social workers for nearly $2 million. The budget for this school year provides for five more social workers.
All 24 positions are posted and the hiring process has begun, said Sloan Roach, school district spokeswoman.
The school district employed 19 social workers as of the end of last school year, for a ratio of one social worker per 9,473 students. That ratio is higher than six other metro Atlanta school districts and the state education department’s recommendation of one social worker per 2,475 students, according to a presentation by school officials.
Social workers train school staff on social and emotional supports and are uniquely qualified to provide therapeutic services, said Collins Hill High School Principal Kerensa Wing, a former national principal of the year and a member of the committee.
“They do work alongside school counselors, and our school counselors are supporting students with academic, social and emotional needs, but they are not licensed professional counselors,” Wing said.
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