Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Student Mental Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Public commenters at Hamilton County BOE urge mental-health support; opinion split over school-based providers
Summary
Several residents and school staff urged the board to address student mental health, limit phone distractions and improve staff pay/retention for specialized programs. Speakers were split: some urged more school-based services and supports, while others urged pulling contracted providers from schools or greater parental control.
During the public comment segment of the Hamilton County Board of Education work session, multiple speakers urged the board to address student mental health and instructional disruptions, while offering sharply different views on school-based mental-health services.
Science teacher Jesse Hillis presented data and called for stronger limits on cell-phone use in schools, saying classroom distractions are reducing instructional time. Hillis said his materials were drawn from Jonathan Haidt’s book The Anxious Generation and told the board: “Cell phone distractions are ruining a generation of kids.” He asked whether allowing cell phones in schools is “the best use of taxpayer dollars.”
Other speakers framed mental health as an urgent need. Megan Gilbert, a resident, told the board that technology and constant access to media are reshaping young people’s environment and stated adults and leaders must “work collectively to keep focus on what's best for our students right now.”
A contrasting view came from Harriet Reid, who criticized the district’s memorandum of understanding with Centerstone, a contracted school-based mental-health provider. Reid argued school-based services intrude on parental authority and said she had not seen clear benchmarks for Centerstone’s results: “Where are the benchmarks? Where's all the progress? Is there any place where you can say that we have a measurement of success?”
Kristen Ruiz, who identified herself as program coordinator at Dawn, urged the board to consider differentiated pay for Dawn staff to improve retention and consistency for students with specialized needs. Ruiz described Dawn as “a program, not a school,” and said extra compensation would improve staff morale and retention for a specialized population.
Board members did not take action on the public comments during the work session. District staff and board members noted mental-health services, staff retention and cell-phone policy are active issues that will continue to be discussed in upcoming committee meetings and regular sessions.
