Since I last wrote about the effort to establish a Mental Health Center in the Killingly, Connecticut school district, there have been some updates.  Unfortunately, the updates do not involve any sort of progress.

In late December, the Killingly Board of Education tried to stall an inquiry with the State Board of Education by filing a motion to delay it, saying that their attorney had a family emergency, which was granted.  The inquiry, to people who haven’t read my previous update on this subject, is to examine whether Killingly violated state law regarding the provision of services to students when they denied a proposal to provide fully staffed mental health care in their school system.  In January, the Killingly Board of Ed filed a motion to dismiss the inquiry.  That request was rejected, but there has not been a date set to reschedule the inquiry.

As mentioned in my last update, the Killingly Board of Education was exploring providing a contract with a different mental health care provider, Community Health Center.  It was an arrangement that many of the people who advocated for a student mental health center questioned, due to the fact that it would cost the town money, and that the services would be more limited.  Well, in early January, Community Health Center withdrew from setting up a contract.  The Republican majority on the Board of Ed blamed one of the Democrats, Sue Lannon for asking pointed questions about the cost of the contract to Community Health Center (CHC) and generally creating a challenging environment for CHC, causing them to withdraw.  Using that as the basis, she was censured.  

However, Lannon said that she asked her questions to CHC 40 days before they decided to withdraw.  She mentioned also that she was excluded from much of the discussion about the potential contract with CHC by the Republican majority.  In fact, a local paper revealed emails where the Killingly Board requested that CHC mandate parental consent before students would be allowed to receive services which might have been the main reason why CHC withdrew.  Contrary to the assertions by the Republicans on the Board of Ed, the emails revealed that CHC was not daunted by potential opposition, and that they were ready to address such concerns at a presentation before the full Board.

The inquiry will eventually happen, but in my view, it will take defeating the recalcitrant members of the Board in elections this November for a Mental Health Center to be approved.  What is maddening about all this is that the contract with Generations, which the Killingly Board rejected last year, would not have cost anything to the town, and it has operated in multiple towns, including neighboring Putnam, Connecticut without any problems.  That being said, come this fall, I will be ready to knock doors in Killingly to help any candidates.

Stay tuned for more updates.