Manor ISD is launching a new benefit during the 2024-2025 school year that will give employees time off to take care of their mental health.
Superintendent Robert Sormani said he believes it is important to explicitly offer days off dedicated to mental health.
Even more than giving people a day off, it really gives them permission to say it’s okay to take that day off, she said.
Sormani, who got the idea for mental health days from a Houston-area superintendent, said anyone who has worked in a school knows that many educators believe they have to be 100 percent of the time and introduce yourself to your students every time. a single day
You have this mentality that you never stop for a moment to take care of yourself and honestly, where is that, you have people who start to burn out early, you get people who get sick, he said. So I think it’s important for us as leaders to stand up and say, No, it’s okay. To be the best for children, sometimes you have to take care of yourself.
Full-time staff at Manor ISD will have one mental health day each semester, so two per school year. Part-time staff also qualify and their free time will be proportional to the amount they work. A person who works part-time, for example, will receive one half-day per semester. The new form of time off is in addition to the sick and vacation time employees already receive.
The district has some guidelines for when staff can take mental health days. Employees can’t take a mental health day if they have to be in school that day for things like mandatory professional development or statewide standardized testing. People also cannot use a mental health day right before or after a district holiday or break. Also, mental health days will not carry over to the next semester.
Sormani said she knows just because the district offers mental health days doesn’t mean people take advantage of them.
I know there are people out there who won’t even make it these days and that’s okay. I’m not going to make anyone take a day off, he said. But I know there are people who won’t take a day if we don’t give them that permission to do it.
How can districts help teachers with their mental health?
An assistant professor at UT Tylers School of Nursing, who runs a mental health outreach line for East Texas educators, praised Manor ISD for offering time off specifically for mental health. Barbara Chapman said offering this kind of time off lets people know it’s okay if they’re struggling and need a day to themselves.
What it will also do is foster an internal culture that includes accepting mental health awareness as part of the overall health of its people, he said. One of the most important things you can ask someone is: How can I support you? It’s a powerful statement.
Sormani said what he hopes to see at Manor ISD is for supervisors to remind their staff that this time is already available to them and they shouldn’t feel bad about using it.
I really hope this becomes something that builds better, positive relationships between leaders and staff in all areas of the district, he said.
Chapman said that while it’s a positive step to offer mental health days, there could be some issues with implementation that the district should be aware of. He noted that teachers have such heavy workloads and are under so much stress that missing a day of school can set them back.
A teacher doesn’t just work the normal working hours we think of. They work overtime, all the time, he said. So the reality of doing a mental health care day requires a teacher to be really prepared and that takes time.
She said a teacher may also be reluctant to take a mental health day if they are working with a student who is struggling and aren’t sure if the substitute teacher will be able to support them.
Will the substitute teacher that day be able to take care of that student or will he be asked to do extra work when he returns and that student will fall behind? Many teachers feel it might not be worth the day, he said.
Money is tight for many Texas school districts
Chapman said teachers across the country ultimately need consistent support for mental health at work.
This talks about reducing their workloads, helping to put more teachers in place, this talks about raising salaries … because teacher salaries are very low right now, he said.
Sormani said one of the reasons Manor ISD looked into offering staff mental health days is because money is tight. Manor ISD, like many school districts in Central Texas, faces a budget shortfall in large part because state funding for public education has not kept up with inflation.
Manor ISD is looking to offer employees a 1 percent raise for the upcoming school year, but Sormani hopes the district can offer more if the school board calls a voter-approved tax rate election, or VATRE, this November. If voters approved a new tax rate that would still be lower than the current rate, it would generate enough revenue for Manor ISD to raise staff salaries by 3 percent of the midpoint of a position pay scale, according to the district.
Other Central Texas school districts have also relied on a tax-rate election to provide raises and help address budget shortfalls. Voters in Lockhart ISD and Pflugerville ISD approved new tax rates last year, and the Austin ISD school board is considering calling a VATRE this fall to help cover the cost of the increases as well.
So when you can no longer think about paying people as much as you think you should be able to, you have to start looking for other avenues, Sormani said. And part of that is how can we improve the quality of the workplace, the quality of enjoyment of the workplace? And part of that is just giving people a chance to take a break.
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