Lakeland board changes Heritage Health decision

RATHDRUM — A crowd of roughly 60 people erupted into applause and some burst into tears of joy Thursday when the Lakeland Joint School District board of trustees reversed its decision to end an agreement between the district and Heritage Health.

The health care provider will now be able to continue providing counseling services for students on district campuses.

“I wish people could be this passionate about their children’s education, I really do,” said board Chair Michelle Thompson, who, along with Vice Chair Ramona Grissom, voted against renewing the agreement.

It was the second time in 10 days the trustees considered the agreement, a memorandum of understanding in place for several years. During a meeting April 10, trustees voted 3-2 against renewing the arrangement with Heritage Health, with Thompson, Grissom and trustee David Quimby carrying the vote.

Quimby changed his vote Thursday.

“I’ve talked to a couple counselors that I’ve known for a long time, and they explained the whole process to me, and it sounds like it’s up to the parents,” Quimby said. “We didn’t have the information … I have the information now to make a better decision.”

The agreement allows Heritage Health counselors to come to Lakeland school buildings to meet with students for appointments, minimizing travel time for parents and lost time in class for students.

“We just want to make life better for people wherever we can,” said Mike Baker, CEO of Heritage Health, one of 25 people who signed up to address the board during Thursday’s meeting. “We’re always around, and we’d love to answer questions if there’s any misunderstanding or anything that we weren’t doing — or a problem with the agreement.”

The Heritage Health counselors work with 78 students, said Heather Hamilton, who oversees the Heritage Health program in the district.

Parent Karen Brooks also addressed the board, breaking into tears as she read her statement. Brooks works for the district but spoke only as a parent. Her son attends Lakeland High School and sees a counselor with Heritage Health on campus.

“I will be affected because I am a single parent, and I am a sole provider for my children,” Brooks said. “Right now I don’t have to choose between missing work and taking my son to appointments.”

In a statement submitted to the board for Thursday’s meeting, Lakeland High School counselors Frank Vieira, Lorain Ryan and Kim Suko asked the trustees to keep the district’s relationship with Heritage Health intact and said the service Heritage Health provides has made the schools safer, providing services for students whose needs are beyond the scope of school counselors.

“Prior to this service being available at school, these students were often untreated due to lack of availability of mental health counselors in the community, transportation or scheduling challenges,” the high school counselors wrote.

Some parents cried as they talked to the board about the benefit their families have received from access to counseling, in some cases attributing the service to saving lives.

“This school year alone, one school in our neighboring district had two teen suicides,” said Allison McClellan in public comment.

Several people spoke to the board in opposition to the agreement with Heritage Health, citing “wokism,” social emotional learning or a lack of parental oversight as factors.

“As much as we would like to think that every parent is in control, those that weren’t did not show up tonight. They were made to feel, whether it was true or not, that they were being coerced or intimidated to make their child partake in the program,” Grissom. “That’s how it came to my attention.”

Brooks cited two instances where she had the freedom to choose her treatment options, once with medication, and once with behavioral procedures, where she was able to control her son’s care through Heritage Health and with the district.

“At any time I could elect that I am not happy with the service and then end treatment,” Brooks said. “You can always exercise your parental rights. Your parental right is not what they allow you to do, it’s what you assert.”

Both Thompson and Grissom stated in emails sent last week to The Press that Heritage Health was providing the services without the knowledge or approval of the board, a point Grissom reiterated in an email sent Thursday to a community member with grandchildren attending Lakeland schools.

However, board minutes from July 13, 2022, reveal that by a unanimous vote, the board approved the existing memorandum of agreement.

Thompson and Grissom were each elected to the Lakeland school board in 2019.