PEORIA, Ariz. — A surprise vote Thursday night by two Peoria school board members abruptly ended a federal mental health grant that supports social workers on campuses.
Despite a last-minute plea from the district superintendent KC Somers to preserve the program “for the sake of students and families," board members Heather Rooks and Becky Proudfit voted “no” on the extension. Members David Sandoval and Melissa Ewing voted “yes.”
The board has an empty seat, which means the tie vote halted the program.
'Unfortunate and surprising'
The $275,000 was essentially a gift the board rejected.
The U.S. Department of Education had already approved the funds for current social worker contracts, a district spokesperson told 12News.
“It was very unfortunate and very surprising,” Ewing said. “All of a sudden, this program ends September 30th. So we are two weeks away.”
Board member Heather Rooks told 12News she voted “no” because schools should not be involved in providing mental health services.
“For me personally as a parent, hearing from other parents, we just don’t think that it should be in the schools. That should be a parent taking a child, if they have a mental health concern, to an outside provider,” Rooks said. She added the grant has been in place for five years and she does not see evidence it increased academic achievement.
“We have to look at results,” Rooks said.
Teachers union alleges 'ideological agenda'
The Arizona Educators Association, which represents public school teachers, accused Rooks and Proudfit of voting for an ideological agenda rather than doing what’s practical for students.
“Peoria is not the only place dealing with out-of-touch school board members who care more about far-right media than about their constituents,” said AEA President Marisol Garcia in a written statement to 12News. “We’ve seen the same pattern in districts all over the state, and we’re determined to fight back."
Proudfit tells 12News she viewed the remaining grant funds as a band-aid. She said the district should not continuously rely on grants to support social workers and instead needs a contingency plan.
“We have to have a contingency plan. We cannot be reliant on a grant going through.”
Asked if she has a contingency plan, Proudfit says, “I just think that number one, if we're saying that social workers are essential, then we have got to be building it into our M&O (Maintenance and Operations) budget. We can't be funding that out of, out of funds that may or may not be there,” Proudfit said. “I have every confidence in our superintendent and in our district that we can work together to be innovative, be intentional and problem solve.”
But districts can only innovate so much. Arizona remains near the bottom nationally in per-pupil funding. Proudfit said she believes passing the upcoming bond election will be part of a comprehensive solution for the district.
The district reported that a technical issue prevented a video-recording of the meeting. The district is now working to assess the impact of the vote.
“We will be developing a plan for next steps to continue to support students with minimal interruption,” said district spokesperson Danielle Airey.
Rooks said her vote was not due to culture wars, but rather the result of research she has done into the grant. She accused the district of allowing social workers to provide psychotherapy and said she’s skeptical of federal grants with strings attached.
Airey said the social workers do not provide psychotherapy but rather general “emotional support” services such as teaching a child how to deregulate during a stressful situation so they can return to the classroom. In cases where children need higher levels of care, Airey said, social workers are trained to connect families with outside organizations.
Services for homelessness, emotional needs and student/staff deaths
Last year alone, the district reports the grant-funded social workers served 1,800 students (whose parents signed permission forms) for services that included:
- Coordinating resources for emotional needs
- Fielding on-site support for 10 grief events (student/staff deaths) and other grief services for 156 students
- Addressing absenteeism
- Assisting 300 homeless students
- Supporting 119 foster care students
“Going away from this type of program is also going away from a program that parents are asking us to provide,” Ewing said. “They were a partner in providing what the children needed in order succeed in our classrooms.”
According to Airey, 73 parents last year declined to sign parental permission forms and therefore their students did not participate in services.
'Dangerous territory'
Rooks cited a parent’s public comment at a board meeting last year. The mother said their child was pressured to participate in group therapy at school.
“When I spoke with the parent, they felt defeated because they were constantly having to say ‘Hey, don’t talk to my kid.’ They went through a lot,” Rooks said. “I think we’re crossing into dangerous territory.”
She also said she’s concerned about the liability created by utilizing interns.
“I get a little nervous when we have interns coming in taking kids out of class providing group therapy, one-on-one therapy,” Rooks said.
Ewing said she had received no direct complaints from parents.
“Our schools have processes in place to ensure we’re gathering permission for any service. It’s not only a requirement of the school, but a requirement of their profession,” Ewing said. “When problems come across they are addressed and communicated.”
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