CHATTANOOGA, Tenn \u2014 The Hamilton County School Board will hear from dozens of students at its meeting Thursday afternoon, where they’ll once again discuss access to mental health services in the district’s schools.<\/p>\n
During that meeting, board members voted to table Board Member Ben Connor’s amendment to reinstate Centerstone, and in favor of letting a Request for Proposal (RFP) process go forward instead.<\/p>\n
Ahead of that vote, several adults spoke about their own struggles with mental health.<\/p>\n
I was at Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the night before I had seriously, strongly considered suicide, and I told the pastor that that morning. What I didn’t know is that he had gone to grad school with one of the guidance counselors at my school and told him, said Hamilton County resident Matt Adams. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Meantime, student Adah Herndon talked about the importance of mental health and the pain of losing her brother saying:<\/p>\n
Everything I am now is not who I was, every room I go in, every place I sit, every item of clothing I put on, every color I see, looks wrong, feels wrong, is wrong.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
At one point, a board member asked Reed Hampton, head of the Hamilton County School Democrats to leave.<\/p>\n
Moments before, that same board member asked Reed not to mention Centerstone, arguing Reed did not sign up for the proper time slot to speak. <\/p>\n
You’ve given us a speech. Do not make the last statement.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Watch a livestream of the meeting below:<\/p>\n
This comes after the board voted in August to end their agreement<\/a> with Centerstone, a private health care company — and after last month’s meeting, which ended with one board member storming off while screaming “blood on your hands!<\/a>“<\/p>\n
Centerstone previously offered in-school therapy for students at no extra cost to the school district.<\/p>\n
Some board members who voted to end the Centerstone agreement cited concerns over background checks, a lack of transparency, and the organization\u2019s perceived ‘ideology.’<\/p>\n
In September, board member Ben Connor proposed a policy revision<\/a> that would let Centerstone return temporarily, provided that new safeguards were put in place. <\/p>\n