Rock Hill schools vote to keep mental health counselors Wednesday

The Rock Hill School Board voted Wednesday night to keep mental health counselors. It was a last-ditch effort by the Interim Superintendent John Jones to save those jobs and other programs recently cut. In late 2024, the superintendent had to eliminate several positions to get more money into classrooms, which put those mental health jobs on the chopping block. Medicaid funding would pay for eight of the jobs. Money for the final two positions would come from the district’s general fund so that students without Medicaid can also be serviced. At a meeting in February, some counselors said they’ve served 2,600 students in the past six years and completed hundreds of crisis interventions this year.
They also referred 40 students for emergency treatment. The school board also heard from a financial expert Wednesday night about a $15 million projected budget deficit that, in part, led to the need for some of the cuts. He said one factor that caused the budget issues was COVID-19 funding used to create positions that remained even after that money disappeared.