SAN ANTONIO – For years, districts and education centers have made it clear: There are not enough mental health professionals in schools.
“There is a huge shortage of all aspects of mental health professionals in school communities, from school counselors to social workers,” said Amy Strauch with Region 20 Education Services Center.
“Specific to school psychologists, what we researched was the fact that we were seeing more retiring or leaving the profession than those that were joining year after year,” Strauch said.
Region 20 oversees and provides training and resources to 58 school districts in 19 counties in Texas. However, a team in that office has been working for two years to secure a federal grant that would help schools across the whole state.
The team just secured $647,156 so school mental health professionals, like counselors or social workers, can upgrade their degrees and become licensed school psychologists.
“We are looking to find people that are already in the field of education or a closely related field that have a master’s degree that want to go through an additional graduate study program to re-specialize as a school psychologist,” Strauch said.
This would pay tuition for employees that would otherwise have to pay thousands of dollars in order to become more specially trained.
“Before 2026, a pathway to re-specialize as a school psychologist in Texas did not exist. This is the first of its kind,” Strauch said. All the programs available in Texas right now to become a school psychologist require you to be in person, or some kind of hybrid model. It’s also very difficult to keep a day job.”
For the grant, Abilene Christian University has agreed to offer a flexible online course that may normally cost someone $20,000. The flexible schedules will allow people to keep their day job at Texas schools while they take the classes.
Region 20 is accepting at least three rounds of applicants each year for the next four years.
With 10 to 15 students in each cohort, that means at least 70 people being reclassified as school psychologists and helping students at a higher level.
“This grant has a special focus on small and rural school districts. We are trying to recruit from school districts in Texas that already have a high need for mental health support,” Strauch said.
Strauch’s team got a head start and already found 15 candidates for their first cohort.
The next cohort will be selected in May 2026. Applications will go out in the spring.
Region 20 has not officially received the money but should get an update this month from their federal advisor on the exact timeline of dispersal.
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