(Photo by Alex Proimos/Creative Commons)
After a 4-1 vote to apply for the Mental Health Service Professionals Demonstration Grant (MHSP), Peoria Unified School District (PUSD) is now on the path to provide school-based comprehensive healthcare. Board Member Heather Rooks was the dissenting vote.
During the May 29, 2024, board meeting, Board Member Melissa Ewing opened the discussion by telling constituents she has two masters degrees in counseling. Apparently, this makes her one of precious few qualified Peoria representatives who can clear up “confusion” around mental health services on school grounds. Ewing went through a laundry list of clinical practices—including psychotherapy, psychiatric evaluations, and prescribing medication—but said she “didn’t think” the district was providing those services. Ewing also stated:
“The mental health services that we do provide are very similar to the medical services we provide at our schools. So, if this community is going to continue to demand that we take mental health out of schools, then we should be taking medical out of schools — which means we should be taking those nurses out who are so very important for our students who have asthma, diabetes, and seizure disorders.”
This Jedi Mind Trick of conflating legitimate medical conditions and perceived mental health crises is unbecoming of someone who supposedly earned two master’s degrees. Obviously, when students have acute or chronic health complications that require immediate attention, a licensed interventionist (e.g. nurse) can administer medication and stabilize the patient. When deep-seated behavioral and emotional issues persist to the point of violence, self-harm, or disrupting learning environments, parents should remove their children from school altogether and only send them back (if at all) after a physician determines this is the best course of action.
Chief Student Services Officer Jason Nuttall is primarily responsible for disseminating MHSP grant details. During the April 9 study session, Nuttall hosted a PowerPoint presentation alongside Chief Personnel Officer Laura Vesley—who once stated that electing school board members is the only stake community members hold in PUSD. Nutall described the district’s three-tiered support system while Vesley explained the job description and qualifications that align with ADE’s grant allocation for mental health counselors.
Despite the Biden-Harris “FACT SHEET” stating that grant funds can be used by school districts to provide “a range of wraparound support for students and families” and “break cycles of generational violence and trauma,” PUSD will onboard school social workers, mental health counselors, and social worker interns without licensure through the Board of Behavioral Health Examiners (BBHE). Also, note that certification through the Arizona Department of Education is optional.
On May 29, Rooks asked Nuttall how graduate interns would be matched to student body populations (she was alluding to her social media post revealing the district’s racialized hiring goals). Nuttall kept repeating something about an “intern pipeline” and “representing” or being “part of the communities they serve.” Translation: the district intends to prioritize recruiting more black and brown social workers since white social workers cannot possibly understand the behavioral or emotional needs of this student demographic.
When questioned about the grant narrative in conjunction with BBHE licensure for student support coaches, Nuttall deferred to Student Support Services Coordinator Kathleen Leonard and MTSS/PBIS Coordinator Dr. Marshell Walters. Pursuant to Arizona Revised Statute 32-3271, Leonard (who holds LCSW credentials) clarified that PUSD is “not providing private practice [but] doing school-based services [and] not ongoing therapy.” She avoided directly addressing legal liabilities that may accompany unlicensed counselors, social workers, and interns practicing behavioral health on school grounds.
Rooks also said she was confused about section “F” of the narrative including the use of MTSS (multi-tiered system of supports) technology to “identify students for mental health services.” She pointed out that the annual contract for Student Information Systems Software (also called Synergy or Edupoint Educational Systems) was renewed by the previous board in July 2022, but there was no mention of MTSS when the renewal was placed on the consent agenda in August 2023. Nuttall said it was a “module within Synergy which the governing board approved to purchase.”
However, Nuttall could not clarify when the MTSS purchase was made or provide any data showing the success of the MHSP grant. To alleviate his distress, acting superintendent Kevin Molino—who’s overseeing the district’s suspicious bathroom project—chimed in to inform the public that the Synergy contact was actually approved under August Consent Agenda Item 6.10-Consideration and Approval of Cooperative Purchasing Agreement Renewals for Fiscal Year 2023-2024. To know what Molino is referring to, one has to access the “23-24 Technology.pdf” document and locate where Edupoint is listed. MTSS software is nowhere to be found in the vendor details.
So, we’ve come full circle on the corruption and shenanigans taking place in PUSD.
Not only did administrators conceal the purchase of emotional/behavioral tracking technology, but Maricopa County Superintendent Steve Watson—who’s being investigated for financial fraud—appointed Rebecca Proudfit to the governing board. Proudfit—who was unknown to the majority of constituents and had never attended a school board meeting prior to the appointment—was nominated for board president by David Sandoval (former board president turned board clerk).
Proudfit and Sandoval led the vote to adopt the MHSP grant.
Parents everywhere should consider that Seattle Public Schools (SPS) also utilizes MTSS software and school-based healthcare programs. Their governing board oversaw the implementation of so-called “data-driven academic and behavioral interventions” to mitigate mental health issues on campus. Now, healthcare clinics are operating on SPS campuses and offering gender-affirming hormone treatments to students, with or without parental consent.
I would be remiss not to consider the role that real social workers play in improving educational outcomes. Nevertheless, this new breed of “school social workers,” should be required to gain experience in the offices of pediatric physicians and therapists, where children are accompanied by parents and interns are under the direct supervision of licensed providers. Healthcare clinics are the appropriate environment to practice trauma-based counseling, not school districts.
Even if government schools could be trusted, it is still primarily the parents’ responsibility to manage their child’s mental health. Nothing stopped Seattle Public Schools from pursuing the furthest extent of the Department of Education’s mental health “pipeline” funding. With a rogue administration and radicalized board members controlling the district, there’s nothing stopping PUSD from barreling down this path.
Parents, you’ve been warned.
Tiffany is the Founder of Restore Parental Rights in Education, a grassroots advocate for families, educators, and school board members. For nearly two decades, Tiffany’s creative writing pursuits have surpassed most interests as she continues to contribute to her blog Bigviewsmallwindow.com. She encourages everyday citizens to take an active role in defending and preserving American values for future generations.