By Staff Reporter |

Peoria Unified School District (PUSD) has approved an application for expansion of federally-funded mental health clinics to seven schools. Board member Heather Rooks was the sole “no” vote on the measure.  

The funds are part of a five-year award with the Mental Health Service Professionals (MHSP) Demonstration Grant through the Department of Education (ED). 

PUSD was one of 27 school districts nationwide to receive MHSP grant funding originally in 2019. Through that grant, expiring at the end of September, PUSD has maintained three social work field instructors. This new round of funding will maintain and expand the mental health services to those schools without them. 

The 2019 MHSP grant funded partnerships with the internship pipelines in Northern Arizona University, Grand Canyon University, and Arizona State University; social work intern field instructors; training for school social workers and school mental health counselors; conference attendance; training school social worker interns (totalling 83); training for teachers, staff, and administrators; purchasing of skill building materials and resources; and parental resources. All of these would be funded through the 2024 grant to a greater degree to include those schools without MHSP resources.

The district’s seven schools, which represent 24 percent of the student population, that don’t have direct mental health services are: Cactus High School, Liberty High School, Oakwood Elementary School, Sunset Heights Elementary School, Frontier Elementary School, and Vistancia Elementary School. 

Across these schools, the district reported in its grant narrative draft elementary students exhibiting greater instances of self-harming behaviors, suicidal ideation, anxiety, depression, aggression, bullying, cyberbullying, poor relationship skills, and poor conflict resolution skills. High school students were reportedly exhibiting similar behaviors, including a handful of suicides and attempted suicides in the last school year. 

In that school year, the district reported just over 1,200 “crises events” that required intervention: suicide risks, child abuse or neglect, or severe emotional distress. 

The district has about 34,700 students across 43 schools, with about 47 percent qualifying for free or reduced lunch. PUSD is the fourth-largest district in the state. 

Public comment against the measure expressed concerns about student safety, such as data mining and “lab rat” handling of the students. Some wondered why the district would offer such a private service that they considered to be a parental responsibility.

A supporter of the measure, Vanessa Goolsby with the Peoria Education Association, said that it was the social workers that prevented the “bad things” from happening to children.

The board defended the expansion of social workers as a much-needed resource. 

Melissa Ewing said that concerned community members were confusing the mental health services provided by schools and the medical community. Ewing said the former isn’t comprehensive, in that the district doesn’t staff doctors, provide diagnoses, or prescribe medications. 

Ewing stressed that social work intervention doesn’t occur without parental consent, and that the data supports social work intervention as effective in improving academic performance.

David Sandoval said the expansion of services was needed due to the rise in mental health issues.

Board member Bill Sorensen said that the social workers have done good work for children in need beyond mental health services. 

Rooks expressed concern that the district was taking on mental health cases instead of referring families to outside providers, and contested that some diagnoses must be happening for the district to be able to report identifying certain behavioral problems. 

Rooks said that State Representative Beverly Pingerelli, a former board member, described the initial MHSP grant from 2019 as part of a much smaller initiative that, she says, has grown way out of proportion. She also contested the claim that the social workers operate under parental permission, noting that one parent’s son had been pulled numerous times from classes to discuss his mental health with a social worker — without parental consent — despite undergoing outside treatment arranged by his parents.

President Becky Proudfit said that she trusted the district social workers to provide healthy and safe services to students, and that her own children have benefited from them. 

Watch the PUSD discussion of the MHSP grant here:

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