Opinion: Cutting my job as an MCPS social worker will hurt the most vulnerable
Schools offer frontline mental health systems during time of increasing need
By
John RobertsonJune 1, 2026 11:27 a.m.
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Some decisions are larger than budgets — they reflect our priorities and our values. As Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) considers eliminating school social workers, I want the community to understand why I left school administration to become a well-being social worker, and what would be lost if these positions disappear.
In 2013, while serving as a school administrator at Northwest High School in Germantown, I began to see a growing crisis among students.
After 21 years in education, I noticed more young people were experiencing serious psychological distress — anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicidal ideation. Families were struggling to respond, and school staff, including myself, were often working beyond our training to support students in crisis.
It became clear that schools were increasingly serving as frontline mental health systems, whether they were designed to or not.
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That realization led me to return to graduate school to earn a master’s degree in social work. I took a yearlong unpaid leave from school administration to complete clinical training because I believed students needed professionals specifically prepared to address mental health needs in educational settings.
In 2022, I transitioned into the role of well-being social worker with MCPS. At Seneca Valley High School in Germantown, I primarily provide therapeutic counseling to students, while also responding to crises, conducting suicide risk assessments, supporting families and ensuring that students in acute distress receive appropriate care. Like other well-being social workers across MCPS, I also assist beyond my assigned school when major crises impact the broader school community. School social workers are the only licensed clinical mental health providers embedded in schools, responsible for clinical assessment, crisis intervention and delivering therapeutic support throughout the school day.
I made this move because student mental health needs had not stabilized — they had intensified.
Now, MCPS is considering eliminating these positions to fill a $36 million budget gap.
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This is occurring while adolescent mental health needs remain at historically high levels. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that a substantial proportion of high school students experience persistent sadness or hopelessness, and many report having seriously considered suicide.
Within MCPS, well-being social workers are on the front lines of responding to these needs.
According to a May 2026 survey, “Protecting Students: The Impact of MCPS Well-Being Social Workers,” this school year across 42 positions, projected totals include approximately 800 suicide risk assessments and interventions, 725 crisis response and stabilization efforts, and more than 23,000 direct student service contacts.
These are not supplemental services. They are the only licensed clinical mental health interventions embedded in schools and available in real time when students are in crisis.
From an administrative and clinical perspective, I have seen how essential these roles are. When students are in distress, academic interventions alone are not sufficient. Schools require licensed mental health professionals to stabilize situations, support families and prevent escalation into more severe outcomes.
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Eliminating these positions does not eliminate student need. It removes the only licensed clinical workforce positioned to respond to it during the school day.
The responsibility does not disappear — it shifts to educators and administrators who are not clinically trained and are already stretched beyond capacity.
As Montgomery County weighs difficult budget decisions, it should be clear that school-based mental health services are not optional supports. They are essential to student safety, school stability and access to learning.
John Robertson is completing his 20th year with MCPS. He taught at Seneca Valley High School in Germantown for one year before moving into administration. He returned to Seneca Valley High in 2022 to become the school’s first well-being social worker.
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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine