Social workers hired to help Plum students during pandemic and beyond

PLUM BOROUGH, Pa. — Social workers are being hired to help students in the Plum Borough School District who are struggling as the COVID-19 pandemic drags on.

District leaders said times have been tough for everyone, and the mental health of students is a top priority.

Three social workers will be brought in after plans to hire them were approved. They will help students with stress, anxiety and mental health concerns during -- and even after -- the pandemic.

Parents recently expressed concerns that they felt their children weren’t thriving in a remote learning setting, with lower grades and less social interaction.

Students in certain grades have started the transition back to in-person learning, and it is believed the social workers will be a great resource moving forward.

“We had a lot of students through a survey tell us they didn’t feel like they had that one person to go to in the school that they could get help from, so issues like that really surfaced for this. We saw that students were struggling,” Michael Caliguiri, school director and vice president of the Plum Borough School Board, said.

The social workers are expected to be available to students by March.

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