[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6923-6924]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           THE PARTNERSHIPS FOR ACHIEVING STUDENT SUCCESS ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Chu) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. CHU. Last month, Galway Central School District in New York 
considered outsourcing the roles of their school psychologist and 
social worker. After all, budgets are tight, and what harm could come 
from this?
  Andrew Huzsar, the district psychologist, and Christine Bornt, the 
school social worker, had already faced an uphill battle helping their 
students. Although the district has only 900 children in attendance, 
Galway is geographically one of the largest school districts in New 
York State. And as the only school psychologist and social worker, 
Andrew and Christine struggled to meet the needs of their students, 
facing more than double the recommended ratio of students to mental 
health professionals across the district.
  An onslaught of letters and testimony soon flooded the Board of 
Education, as students, parents, and teachers, alike, protested on 
Andrew and Christine's behalf. The board soon relented to the public 
outrage, perhaps thanks to a very moving letter of support that Andrew 
received. This letter was from a young student explaining that he would 
not be alive today if it had not been for Andrew intervening in his 
life. This student was not someone Andrew saw regularly. They met only 
three times the previous school year.
  Mental health counseling is a critical component for student success. 
Just three meetings were enough to save this student's life.
  As a clinical psychologist, I know that there is no budget cut more 
shortsighted than one that stands between mental health resources and 
those who desperately need them. For a student, that access may be the 
difference between a productive day in class and an act of aggression 
against themselves or their peers. In the case of Andrew and that 
student, it made the difference between life and death.
  That's why last week I introduced the Partnerships for Achieving 
Student Success, or PASS, Act. It does more than ever before to help 
our Nation's neediest schools ensure that our children have access to 
the appropriate mental health and student service professionals on 
campus. It creates a Federal grant program to help low-income school 
districts recruit, employ, and retain school counselors, school social 
workers, school psychologists, and other psychologists qualified to 
work in K-12 schools.

[[Page 6924]]

  Galway School District ultimately kept their mental health 
professionals, but not every school district has the capacity to do so. 
By expanding the number of school mental health professionals in low-
income, high-need schools, we can effect positive change in the lives 
of students who need it most. That's why the PASS Act already has the 
support of the American Psychological Association, National Association 
of School Psychologists, American School Counselor Association, and the 
School Social Work Association of America.
  And it is why I take to the floor today to encourage my colleagues to 
support this bill and improve the academic and life success for 
students across this country. Together, we can make sure that the 
Andrews of this world are there when their students need them.

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