BILLINGS - Billings Public Schools is taking mental health seriously for teachers and students after the Tuesday night stabbing of a teacher at Billings Senior High School shocked the community.
The school’s students and staff stayed home on Wednesday as police investigated the scene of the incident. They will return to school on Thursday, where counselors and a crisis team will be waiting for them.
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Related: Witnesses recount 'scary' scene inside Billings Senior after stabbing
Billings Education Association President Lance Edward said he was on the phone with several teachers all day Wednesday.
“I've heard from quite a few of them, that they're concerned about things and worried a little bit. But they're also the kind of professionals that want to finish the semester strong and they're worried about students and their academics and all the things that have gone into a semester,” said Edward.
“When they come back tomorrow, the crisis teams will be available. Counseling will be available,” he added.
Edward also said the teacher who was stabbed is on the minds of many.
“I can only tell you that the teacher involved has an impeccable professional reputation as a very good teacher. We're lucky to have that teacher in Billings and I hope that he's recovering well,” said Edward.
For the students who were near the scene of the stabbing, counselors will have work to do on Thursday.
“The kids that were directly involved in that are probably going to need a lot of support moving forward. We can have symptoms like PTSD where there's hypervigilance, they're looking behind them, around them. They can have nightmares. Also, parents need to watch for intrusive thoughts, meaning they are not leaving them, so they're repeated intrusive thoughts of the incident,” said Billings child and adolescent therapist Lisa Shepherd.
Shepherd is the owner and founder of Clover Pediatric and Adolescent Therapy, and she said she worked as a counselor in the school district for six years.
“We have some really great school counselors, I know most of them, and they're going to be there available for the students and the families,” she said.
