Regina Public School Board Mental Health Strategy

Nov 9

A Mental Health strategy can be truly beneficial, especially since students often face mental health challenges that can arise during school assessments. Having a policy in place to guide teachers can be a great support. However, it’s crucial that any mental health policy is thoughtfully constructed and specifically focused, rather than being used to promote other agendas.

What does it mean?

Unfortunately, it seems that the Mental Health policy of the RPS isn't as narrowly focused as it should be; it has also been diluted with diversity, equity, and inclusion elements. According to the report, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are viewed as foundational to mental health. In other words, the RPS's mental health plan sees DEI as a key component. Moreover, the mental health report suggests that creating a more “resilient workforce” necessitates training that includes diversity and inclusion.

It appears that the framework of diversity, equity, and inclusion is now woven into almost every aspect of what the Regina Public Schoolboard does. In this instance, diversity and inclusion training has become a central element of the RPS mental health plan. This is in spite of the fact that no evidence has been provided to show that DEI training effectively improves mental health outcomes in students, or even that it contributes positively as part of a comprehensive mental health strategy. There might be other interventions that prove to be more efficient and effective.

Given the limited resources available, it’s important to ensure that all resources are allocated in the most effective and efficient way possible. It may be worthwhile to reconsider whether the current mental health plan could be revised to better utilize these resources.