NORTHVILLE, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – For the second time in two years, Northville Public Schools has managed to spark outrage over their lack of transparency and this time, they threw in some confusion too.
At a December 16 meeting, the board unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) allowing a mental-health operation run by Trinity Health (formerly IHA Health) to operate inside of the Hillside Middle School. The vote was quick but their language was not clear. Parents? Still trying to decode it all.
Not “school-based.” Just… in the school.
MORE NEWS: $23.6B Price Tag on the Menu for ‘Free’ K–12 School Breakfast and Lunch
District officials repeatedly emphasized what the clinic isn’t according to their views. During the presentation, it was said that the clinic was not a “school-based” health center but their MOU says differently. The language in the MOU says, “the purpose of this MOU is to provide school-based mental health services to School District students, parents and the community-at-large to reduce barriers for families seeking mental health care and promote well-being throughout the community.” In the next paragraph, it specifically says that the IHA desires to located school-based mental health in the middle school to provide such “school-based health services.”
The trustees also didn’t like the word “clinic” and instead called it an “office space,” “community partnership space,” or as one trustee put it, “co-located.” However, in the MOU, it’s called a clinic.
What it looks like it is.
The “clinic” is inside a middle school building operating during after-school hours from 2 to 8 pm (which can be changed according to the contract – if mutually agreed upon by both parties), and offers mental- health services to the general community including parents, students and others – with preferential scheduling for students. Services will be offered both in person and virtually.
The clinic, which will have a social worker, will provide “school-based mental health services to school district students, parents and the community-at-large to reduce barriers for families seeking mental health care and promote well-being throughout the community,” says the MOU.
Also in the MOU, it says IHA’s Services shall include, but shall not be limited to: mental health screening, assessment and comprehensive person-centered treatment planning followed with appropriate services; mental health, and substance abuse interventions; and referral for other services not available at the clinic. The services won’t include: abortion counseling services or make referrals for abortion services; prescribing, dispensing or otherwise distributing family planning drugs and/or devices.
The clinic won’t have access to the student’s school records and vice versa. Information will only be shared with the school district if the student’s parent/guardian authorizes the release.
Students are the primary focus.
MORE NEWS: Michigan Lawmaker to Congress: Let States Take Back Control of Wolves
Reading through the MOU, it makes clear that the focus of the clinic is on the students. The presentation at the meeting had language calling it an “additional layer” expanding access to professional mental services for students who need it. The trustees also mentioned students who attended their last meeting who said that they hoped the board would move ahead with the plans in order to reduce mental health stigmas and increase access to services.
Consent, “where appropriate” and other foggy phrases.
The MOU includes language about parental consent being required “where appropriate” or “as required by Michigan law,” leaving families with more questions than answers.
Michigan law allows minors 14 and older to receive outpatient mental-health services without parental consent for a limited number of sessions. The district could have required parental notification as a condition of hosting the clinic but they didn’t. Instead, parents got parsed phrases and legal caveats – without the actual MOU released ahead of time for the parents to look at.
Public comment, private decisions.
Attorney Matthew Wilk, a Northville parent and former school board member, was at the meeting and has been emailing warnings to the community about the board’s plans. He said the board placed the issue on the agenda without directly notifying parents or community members and without providing any background information – including the MOU – ahead of the meeting. He also raised concerns that there is no clear guarantee parents will be notified, asked for consent, or involved before appointments are made.
Other parents at the meeting took to the floor criticizing the board for not giving them transparency and information ahead of time so parents and the community could be informed and have a say on the issue. Some noted that the district excels at communicating about things like bake sales and spirit days – but not something this consequential.
MOU passes unanimously.
The board’s response? A unanimous vote to move forward anyway with its so-called “co-located” mental health partnership. All seven trustees voted yes. Six of them are female.
Supporters on the board said the clinic expands access and reduces stigma. Critics say it’s another step in a growing pattern where schools increasingly inserting themselves into areas once firmly handled by families – medical care included – while assuring parents everything is fine.
Maybe everything is fine – but when a school board spends more time redefining words than explaining if parents still have rights over their own kids, parents are justified in wondering what, exactly, is going on.
