Help is coming to rural school districts in western Illinois. Western Illinois University has received a $3.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education through the Mental Health Service Professionals (MHSP) Demonstration Grant Program.
Leigh Ann Fisler, an associate professor of psychology at WIU, said the funding will help place students in 10 rural school districts and guarantee employment for up to four years post-graduation.
She said rural school psychologists are often stretched thin, having to take on many other tasks aside from seeing students.
Fisler said WIU is partnering with the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) for the grant, and the districts that students will work in must be high need local education agencies.
