Board to pursue talks with AltaPoint on proposed day‑treatment school for students with acute mental‑health needs

Principals and administrators from across Baldwin County urged the Baldwin County Board of Education on Tuesday to pursue a dedicated day‑treatment school for students with severe mental‑health and trauma‑related behaviors, and the board voted to continue discussions and research with AltaPoint.

Several school leaders described students who regularly miss large amounts of class or present violent or self‑harm behaviors, and said classroom teachers are not licensed to provide the level of mental‑health care those children need. "Teachers are trained in academics and hold a license to teach," said Katie White, principal of Foley Middle School. "We do our best to support students but we are not licensed to provide ..." (public comment). Brooke Waters, principal of Foley Elementary, said the facility "will not be a silver bullet" but called it "an answer to one of the most…