Letter from Superintendent of Schools on YRBS Data
| Belmont Wellness Coalition Survey Findings |
| Dear Belmont Community, At the November 9 School Committee meeting, the Belmont Wellness Coalition (Wayside Youth & Family Support Network) gave a presentation of survey findings from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). In the spring of 2019, the coalition presented SEL data and now they are presenting key points from the 2021 YRBS data given to students in grades 7-12 this past spring. The YRBS survey is conducted in partnership with our local coalition and as part of a cohort with 11 other communities that comprise the Middlesex League who also took a YRBS in their districts. – Click here to see the highlights presented Nov. 9. – Click here to see the longer presentation with all the results. – Click here to see the 2019 YRBS presentation to School Committee on Nov. 12, 2019. When comparing the data from 2019 and 2021, there are some areas that have improved and there are areas that we clearly need to continue to address for our students’ well-being. In our continued partnership with the Wayside Youth & Support Network, our district leaders will meet to review the updated findings over the next few weeks to discuss proactive and productive measures we can take to support our students. We would like to thank Belmont resident Lisa Gibalerio for her leadership and work on the coalition. We are thankful to our School Committee for supporting our efforts to secure four additional social workers this year with federal funds to support our students. Our goal is to build clinical structures in our schools in order to provide systematic guidance to our staff and direct service to our students. Given the importance of this work and the understanding that not all families were in attendance at our last School Committee meeting, we encourage you to go to the BPS website to view the YRBS data highlights and the full YRBS survey. Respectfully, John P. Phelan Superintendent of Schools Town of Belmont |
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