There has been an important and positive development regarding the fight for quality mental health care for Killingly students.  Last month, the Killingly Board of Education, the State Board of Education, and the parents and students who filed the 10-4B complaint reached a settlement ending this protracted fight.  Per the settlement, the nonprofit organization Community Health Resources (CHR) has agreed to provide full mental health services at Killingly High School and Killingly Intermediate school, and partial services at Killingly Memorial School.  CHR was already providing some services since the Killingly B.O.E approved their contract in May of 2023, but this expansion to help all students is exactly what Generations Health had in mind when they applied for a contract in 2022 when this whole saga started.  As someone who was hospitalized for mental health issues after 10^th grade, it is wonderful that students will get good access to mental health care in a town where it is desperately needed.

            While it is unfortunate that this whole imbroglio lasted over 2 years due to the stubbornness of the Killingly Board of Education, this settlement shows that it is possible for concerned citizens to succeed in their actions to improve their community through consistent advocacy.  This hard work is what is necessary to achieve goals big and small, from adding a crosswalk to a busy street to passing the 19^th amendment that gave women the right to vote¹.  A key thing to note: while the 10-4B complaint was the main avenue for helping bring mental health care to Killingly Schools, it was not the only path that was taken.  This issue was consistently pushed for in Killingly Board of Ed meeting after meeting, even when the members did not want to hear about it anymore. There were also the citizens who ran for seats on the Board on this issue and won.  In my opinion, these new Board members helped turn the tide on this controversy, something which I have said consistently as I have written on this issue.  Who knows how much more foot dragging would have occurred had there been no change in the Killingly Board membership.

            With another school year about to begin, I hope that students who are troubled will be able to take advantage of the help that is now available.  I will write a follow post in a few months to see how it’s going, and I am sure that I will be writing about good news.

1. Go see “Suffs“, the smashing new musical which is all about the fight for the 19th amendment, and which was Music Directed by my sister Andrea Grody ↩︎