Children across America and Illinois are facing unprecedented mental health challenges, especially in the wake of the pandemic. Young people often struggle in silence. But in Illinois, a landmark piece of legislation will start the conversation by implementing universal mental health screenings in schools.

Just as schools screen for vision and hearing to support learning, mental health checks promote students’ well-being and educational success. They are a public health tool. The new legislation signed by Gov. JB Pritzker requires districts to offer screenings, though participation is not mandatory for students. The screenings do not produce diagnoses. Their purpose is to flag students who may need additional support — support that could save a child’s life.

The Tribune Editorial Board (“A state law giving school kids mental health screenings leaves the sensitive details to bureaucrats,” Aug. 19) suggests that the legislation left details to “unelected bureaucrats.” Bureaucrats are neither designing nor implementing the screenings, a process that has been both deliberate and collaborative.

Beginning in 2023, the Illinois State Board of Education and researchers from Chapin Hall surveyed districts to understand current mental health check practices in Illinois. They found that 28% already offered universal mental or social-emotional screenings, while 40% had some form of screening in place. The following year, researchers held listening sessions with hundreds of educators, parents and caregivers. This thoughtful approach ensured a statewide policy built on feedback from our communities. Parents play an integral role in the addressing the youth mental health crisis, and this legislation was designed with them in mind, including the opt-out option if they so choose.

By catching signs of distress early, this initiative shifts the approach from reacting to crises to preventing them. Teachers can often recognize disruptive behavior disorders, but it is far harder to spot anxiety, depression or trauma before they escalate.

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death among adolescents. Given these realities, Illinois is providing a structured way to identify and support kids in need before problems become life-threatening.

— Dana A. Weiner, chief officer for Children’s Behavioral Health Transformation, state of Illinois

Transporting students

Regarding the Aug. 19 op-ed about Chicago Public Schools’ transportation challenges (“My son still doesn’t have a way to get to school in Chicago”), I want to provide readers with broader context.

CPS continues to wrestle with a national school bus driver shortage that grew worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. The explosive rise of delivery services has only added to the competition for licensed drivers, but CPS has never stopped working to meet the needs of students who qualify for transportation.

About 5% of CPS’ 325,000 students are eligible for free yellow bus service. State law and CPS prioritize transportation for students with disabilities whose individualized education program requires it and for students in temporary living situations. These children’s families often have the fewest alternatives.

Last year, roughly 20% of eligible students with disabilities did not have bus service on the first day of school. While the op-ed cites that number, it does not reflect progress made during the year nor explain that many transportation requests come in just as school starts or after it has started — and continue all year as new students are enrolled. By year’s end, CPS was providing yellow bus transportation to about 92% of eligible students, an increase over the prior year.

In addition to the driver shortage and competition for drivers, CPS is also enrolling more students whose IEP requires transportation. The district is transporting more students with disabilities, now 2,000 more than last year. Even with that growth, the district is serving 90% of eligible students with disabilities as of this week.

CPS has raised driver wages, hosted recruitment fairs and offered retention bonuses, among other measures. We have worked with the secretary of state to incorporate testing in multiple languages, added testing locations and relieved candidates from taking a hands-on test about the mechanical repairs and operations of a yellow bus. Those efforts led to a waiver of the “Under the Hood” test until November 2026.

To make better use of limited drivers, we adjusted bell times at 22 schools this year. This change improves efficiency and allows more priority students to be served.

Last year, we launched a hub stop pilot program to extend service to more general education students by consolidating underused routes. Hub stops make service more sustainable while preserving access. We are continuing that program.

CPS will keep working to expand access, manage scarce resources responsibly and put students — especially those with the greatest needs — at the center of every transportation decision.

— Charles Mayfield, chief operating officer, Chicago Public Schools

Priest should retire

The Aug. 12 editorial “God does not gerrymander” reports that the Rev. Michael Pfleger, the Roman Catholic pastor of St. Sabina Church, sponsored at the church a political rally at which Texas Democratic legislators, who temporarily fled their state, denounced their fellow elected officials for trying to redo Texas congressional districts.

The editorial rightly but gently points out that a church is no place for “overtly partisan politics” and should be a “safe haven from such naked partisanship.”

Pfleger has a long history of partisan politics and using St. Sabina and its parishioners to promote his causes. Chicago archbishops have tried to rein in Pfleger. The current archbishop, Cardinal Blase Cupich, needs to remove Pfleger from St. Sabina and retire him from the active priesthood.

— Dennis Dohm, Oak Lawn

A renewable future

Although I’m not a resident of St. Charles, I was delighted to read the article “Council won’t renew deal with coal-reliant provider” in the Aug. 17 Tribune. While the City Council has uncertainty about where it will source energy after 2035, I applaud the council’s willingness to reject the extension of a contract for an additional 20 years with an entity that generates power predominately through the burning of fossil fuels. I hope Naperville follows the city’s lead.

I applaud the St. Charles council for acknowledging the reality of climate change and the need to alter our behavior to make a difference. The Donald Trump administration rejects science in too many aspects of its policies and decisions and actively seeks to decimate the renewable energy industries. However, ordinary Americans, this council and many business leaders understand that change is required, despite the rhetoric and actions of our federal government.

Most of the major delivery companies — Amazon, FedEx, UPS and DHL, among others — all have established in-process strategies and timelines to transition their fleets to electric vehicles. Despite this, the Republican-led Congress is seeking to revoke previously approved funding for the U.S. Postal Service’s plan to replace thousands in its aging fleet of gas-powered vehicles with electric vehicles. In addition, these misguided legislators are striving to sell off the USPS’ new EVs that are already in service and the supporting infrastructure.

Thank you to the St. Charles council for doing the right thing. We each individually and collectively have the power and responsibility to make thoughtful decisions that can make this world a better place. The more we are willing to embrace reality, science and technological innovation, the sooner we’ll bring down the costs of renewable energy and ideally result in healthier energy options for St. Charles, other municipalities and all of us in the coming years and decades.

— Sally Munn, Crystal Lake

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