'Crying out for help.' Fayette parents, kids ask for more focus on student mental health
Lexington Herald-LeaderJan 27, 2021
Jan. 26—For separate reasons, Lexington kids and parents have been making pushes in recent weeks for Fayette County school officials to increase the focus on student mental health.
Ringler on Tuesday morning stood outside the former district Central Office on Lexington's
"The story that's not getting told in Fayette County... is what's happening behind the scenes with substance abuse, depression, suicide and the habitual problems that are happening with young adults right now without having any structure," he said.
In large part, Fayette students have been learning from home as a result of the coronavirus pandemic since March. A decision is expected later Tuesday on whether they will return to face-to-face instruction the week of
Another Fayette parent,
Being away from in-person learning, said Kyde, is "not healthy."
"I've never seen my children cry this much," she said.
The New York Times reported on Sunday that student suicides in and around
"This month, the school board gave the green light to phase in the return of some elementary school grades and groups of struggling students even as greater
The New York Times said superintendents across the country are weighing in-person education against public health.
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In the District Safety Plan, Deffendall said officials included investments in additional district mental health professionals and a districtwide social-emotional learning curriculum for students in preschool through high school.
While schools have been closed due to the spread of COVID-19, every school in the district has incorporated social emotional learning in their weekly schedule and woven wellness activities into lessons, she said. The district has placed an emphasis on building trusting relationships with students, and implemented a system of monitoring online activity for warning signs so that staff can quickly identify students who need additional support, said Deffendall.
"We have responded immediately to all requests from students and families for social emotional and mental health services and will continue to do so both for in-person and remote modes of instruction," Deffendall said. To access that support, visit www.fcps.net/gethelp or call 859-381-4100.
On
As of
District officials are making decisions about returning to school each week based on a matrix with multiple factors, including a seven day average of new cases in the community.
Ringler is asking that the
"This one can include the hospitalizations and deaths associated with overdoses, shootings and suicides during the pandemic. Maybe then we could compare statistics and decide if it is a good idea that we continue to keep our children out of school and activities," said Ringler.
Fayette schools parent
"Keeping our kids out of school may in fact be doing more damage to their mental, physical and emotional health than COVID-19 could ever do. Especially when kids are extremely compliant with social distancing and mask wearing," Conn said in an interview Monday.
"Virtual learning and isolation have created an intense increase in depression, anxiety, ... and mood disorders," Conn said. " ...Parents are crying out for help and while counseling is available for many, agencies are often on a wait or not taking specific insurances." She said the issue seems hopeless for many families.
"The one place of hope, getting our kids back into a safe place for them to learn, socialize and resume motivation and social experiences, seems far out of reach and we continue to be shut down by the Board and Fayette County (schools)," said Conn.
On another front not related to the return to schools, members of a student group called Counselors Over Cops have been meeting with Fayette school board members asking that the board limit the number of police in district schools to the state-required number of one per school and to increase school counselors.
Each main Fayette high school currently has three officers and one sergeant, Deffendall said.
The school district police officer's "sole purpose should be to respond to emergency situations, with no broader role in law enforcement or student discipline. And we ask for money to be reinvested in staff and services that support the safety and well being of all students like nurses, mental health workers, social workers, psychologists and counselors," said
"We've been organizing for a new approach to school safety — one that addresses the root causes of misbehavior, one that is less punitive, and one that includes that safety of all students,"
The Lexington students, whose movement mirrors those in schools across the country, have said the presence of school police officers not only disproportionately harms students of color and students with disabilities but fuels a school-to-prison pipeline.
Shapere emphasized that the group was not trying to remove police completely from schools.
Deffendall said there were more mental health professionals than police officers in every school in Fayette County.
Deffendall said since a school safety tax was implemented in 2018, the district has added 27 police officers in schools to a base number of 32 and added 57 mental health professionals. There are currently 215 counselors, social workers and district mental health professionals. The officers have been added at the elementary and middle school level, but mental health professionals have been added at all three levels, Deffendall said.
School board member
"At this time I do not believe FCPS needs to decrease the size of the department but also FCPS does not need to significantly grow the department either. I believe that is important for FCPS youth to engage with officers in their schools in a positive way. In the elementary schools, officers are often reading to and engaging with young students, many who may not have had positive experiences with police officers in their neighborhoods," Spires said.
Spires said the district does need to continue to increase the number of mental health professionals in schools and can use the safety tax for more mental health professionals.
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