The issue of student mental health was laid bare at Thursday night’s Marysville School Board meeting as three parents wanted answers.
The parents were spurred to attend the meeting by the death of a middle school student last week as well as the district’s response.
“How can you guys help fix this,” Kaleen Ruggiero said.
Ruggiero, who addressed the board with her husband, Justin, is the mother of a 2019 Marysville grad and a current Bunsold Middle School student. She said her family moved to the district a few years ago because of the music program. Ruggiero said that with the recent death of a 13-year-old girl who was close with the family, she is concerned over the culture within the schools.
“Unfortunately, it’s in our community now,” Justin Ruggiero said about a growing national mental health crisis.
Though law enforcement and school officials have said bullying was not a factor in the suicide, the Ruggieros made statements to the contrary. They referenced another incident at Bunsold in which a student had threatened to jump from a second floor balcony recently.
School officials at the meeting cited Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act concerns that kept them from commenting about specifics of the incidents.
Earlier in the meeting, students there for an unrelated matter also spoke of culture concerns within the schools.
Thursday night’s gathering was held at the district’s TRI-Academy, a small four-room operation housed in the Hope Center, that serves credit-deficient high school students with smaller classes and more direct teacher oversight. Six students shared their success stories and raved about the support they receive at the school.
They described the close relationships they have formed with teachers and other students at TRI-Academy. But many of the students attributed at least part of their previous struggles to the culture at the district’s two high schools.
One boy said the small school allowed him to avoid bullying, saying he was not judged for things like his shoes or clothes.
Board member Brian Luke asked the students what could be done at the schools to create a more inclusive atmosphere.
Many of the responses involved a culture of cliques which left many students feeling alone. But, all the issues did not surround the student body.
One of the students, Mason, said she had attended the high school before attempting two different home-school operations. She eventually dropped out of school before coming back to TRI-Academy.
She said the difference was that she felt that her teachers now care about her.
A small girl in a blue shirt said she was also bullied and found little help when she turned to school officials. The girl said response to complaints is very slow and added that nothing is done if the incident is not captured on school cameras.
TRI-Academy Principal Jennifer Hinderer said the small size of her operation allows teachers more insight into each student than at the larger schools. She said teachers can know the backgrounds of both parties involved in a disagreement, sort out the truth and come to a resolution.
Kaleen Ruggiero said she recognizes the entire district could not operate on the same classroom scale as TRI-Academy, but said the district should try to create a similar culture of caring community.
Justin Ruggiero also said communication with parents about the recent suicide was lacking. He said his daughter found out about the death of her friend when she went to school and parents weren’t informed until later.
While he said he appreciated the counselors that were on hand to assist students, he still came home from work to find his daughter in tears without knowing why.
“We need to be open about this,” he said.
Parent Heather Beckwith said her student also found out about the situation at school and she wants the school to start a conversation with families about the issue. She said she knows the schools are trying to address the mental health issue, but parents should be involved in the process because many want to help.
Board members, who typically do not engage in discussion during the public comment portion of the meeting, took contact information for each parent at the meeting and promised to follow up to discuss their concerns.
Later in the meeting, Luke said he had talked to a lot of people about the issue of student suicide and said he is committed to better addressing it. Luke said the board has been working for months on ways to better serve the mental health needs of students and reiterated that the sense of community described by the TRI-Academy students is a step in the right direction.
He said that a struggling student needs to feel connected to teachers and supported.
“That can make a difference in whether that student makes it through that dark day or not.”