JEFFERSON TWP — The South Butler School District is one step closer to offering therapy services to students from sixth to 12th grade next school year.

Greg Hajek, the director of special services, talked to the school board about the idea in April, and since then, Family Psychological in Butler has put in a bid to offer the service.

It would not cost the district since the program will bill a student’s insurance provider, Hajek said.

For students who are not insured, Family Psychological can work to find an alternative plan, according to Tina Pisor, the director of program integrity.

“We try to treat each case individually,” she said. “We try to either help to get them insured or find a way that we can try to work with them. We’re not going to let anybody go without something that they need.”

Hajek said South Butler is the only district in the county that does not offer this connection of services to provide students with an option for routine therapy. Family Psychological serves every district in the county except for Seneca Valley, totaling 64 students in the 2015-16 school year, Pisor said.

South Butler likely will want to start with one therapist and increase that to two as the demand increases, Hajek said. The actual need or demand at the district is not known, but Hajek estimates 20 to 25 students will benefit from the program initially.

While the school has guidance counselors and a school psychologist, there are simply too many students to routinely schedule longer sessions with each student who could benefit from it, he said. The more holistic approach may help students academically, emotionally and socially, Hajek said.

Pisor is pleased that schools are starting to recognize the benefits of offering an in-school therapy program.

“It’s a growing program and a lot of schools are really getting on board with the idea of doing school-based therapy,” Pisor said. “It’s convenient, the school’s involved ... The purpose of it (is) to get them help and mental health interventions in a more accessible way and hopefully at a younger age.”

The program is expected to start at the beginning of the new school year or shortly after, Hajek said.