Mayor Martin J. Walsh is redirecting $2.4 million to fund eight additional nurses and 12 more psychologists and social workers for Boston Public Schools after parents, teachers and school mental health experts called for more behavioral health support for kids.
The city is shifting money previously reserved for health care costs to BPS for mental health, city officials announced.
“As we reviewed this year’s overall City budget, we found additional cost savings thanks to our commitment to strong fiscal management over recent years, and we are pleased to redirect those savings back into Boston’s largest and most important investment — our kids,” said Walsh in a statement. “Providing students with resources to help foster their physical, emotional, and mental health goes a long way on putting them, and keeping them, on a path to success.”
This new $2.4 million investment will add eight nurses, seven psychologists, four social workers and a director of social work services. Eight new nurses will bring the number of schools with at least one full-time nurse to 74, city officials said.