Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
School leaders tell Senate Education that rising student mental‑health needs outstrip school budgets and staffing
Summary
Principals from Allenbrook and Montpelier High told the Senate Education Committee that student anxiety, trauma and behavioral crises are growing earlier and require intensive, sustained school-based mental‑health supports; they urged coordinated early intervention, flexible funding and limits on unfunded mandates.
Members of the Senate Education Committee heard testimony on June 29 from school leaders who said rising student mental‑health needs have turned public schools into frontline mental‑health responders without the staffing or sustained funding to meet demand.
Angela Fillion, principal of Allenbrook School (a pre-K–2 public school), told the committee that she is seeing “significant increase in student mental health needs, anxiety, trauma responses, behavioral crises, and even suicidal ideation appearing earlier, lasting longer, and requiring more intensive interventions.” She said required trainings (harassment/hazing/bullying prevention, threat assessment,…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
