Biden cabinet members visit St. Louis to talk mental health in schools, HBCUs

Two members of President Joe Biden’s cabinet were in St. Louis Wednesday as part of a back-to-school bus tour.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona has been riding a big blue bus around the Midwest this week to talk about the Biden-Harris Administration’s education priorities. In St. Louis, the tour focused on mental health in schools and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Cardona met up with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra at Compton-Drew Middle School. On a tour of the school, the two saw what school leaders have implemented to deal with student trauma and mental health issues.

In a “calm-down room,” students practiced yoga for the federal officials. St. Louis Public Schools Superintendent Keisha Scarlett and U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis County, were also there to give the secretaries local perspective on national issues facing schools.

Principal Susan Reid said when her students came back to in-person learning after the pandemic isolation, they needed significantly more mental health support to deal with the trauma of everything that had happened. Staff saw student pain reflected in increased behavior issues among students.