Evergreen School District sees improvements after adding community liaison position

Since introducing a school and health community liaison in January 2023, Evergreen School District has reported improvements for students in the classroom in various areas.  

Serving 650 students, Superintendent Laurie Barron credits much of this success to the liaison position, currently held by Shannon Black, who took on the role in August. The district saw a 64% improvement in attendance, 55% in behavior and 41% in academics.  

“Because of those numbers that Laurie shared with you, is why I wanted this position,” Black told the Inter Lake. “If you’re able to improve a child’s success at school, I mean it’s pretty impactful. They’re doing something special here.” 

Funded by a two-year Montana Healthcare Foundation grant, the liaison connects families to services, including medical and mental health care, food, clothing, utility and housing assistance. 

Through these community connections, Black, who has a child in the district, noted that families can get help enrolling in programs such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. 

With her office located behind the school-based health clinic at East Evergreen Elementary School, Black can help schedule appointments or assist families in filling out paperwork and consent forms. Paperwork, like transportation, can be a barrier to accessing services. 

“We know when we don’t have those things, then it’s more difficult to get them [students] to school, or for them to do well in school, or be successful when they’re worried about things that they don’t need to be worried about as a kid,” said Evergreen School District Special Services Director Melissa Hardman, who oversees the grant-funded position. 

With Black handling these tasks, counselors and principals can focus on academics. 

“Where before we would work through all of those things and try to help them, and we just didn’t have the capabilities,” Hardman added. 

Barron explained that the role was created to bridge a perceived gap in families using available resources, such as the on-site health clinic.  

“We made up the role based on what our district needed. And what our district needed was someone to help connect our students and families from home to school to physical and mental health care services so that they may be more successful in school,” she said. 

Families aren’t always aware of services, how to access them, or if they qualify, Black said, noting that these types of programs may be under-advertised. Even a meeting or phone call builds stronger relationships with families, Black said. 

“Which then builds trust, which then increases communication which then contributes to improving outcomes for kids,” Barron added. 

While the position is not state-mandated, “It is a position we know is meaningful and necessary in our district, so we wrote a grant to fund it,” Barron said. 

Evergreen has long aimed to ease the path to student success. For example, the district expanded its 2017 Student Experience Day, going beyond meeting the teacher and dropping off school supplies before the first day of school, to include services like immunizations, sports physicals and haircuts.  

However, this is the final year of grant funding for the liaison role. Barron and Hardman hope to secure new funding to continue the program. 

The grant-funded position highlights the increasing non-academic responsibilities of public schools, Hardman, Black and Barron agreed. 

“I think it’s an overall trend in education. I don’t think it’s an Evergreen issue. I don’t think it’s a Montana issue. I think it’s schools more and more take on increasing responsibilities for the overall well-being of students because many times when students aren’t successful in school, the root cause isn’t at school. 

“So, if we can invest in other areas outside the classroom to help students be successful and it improves their overall outcomes — then we are contributing to helping develop strong, well-rounded citizens who give back to our community, and so it’s just become part of what public schools do,” Barron said. 

In its final year of grant funding, Evergreen aims to secure additional funding to sustain the position. 

“I think families are doing the best they can with the resources they have and so we’re here to help them and support them,” Hardman said. “Our goal is to give them resources ... so they can advocate for themselves and for their children.” 

For more information, contact Black at 751-1121 or sblack@evergreensd50.com. 

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com. 

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