Pleasanton Unified needs to wake up and start taking mental health issues more seriously. The statistics mentioned above are alarming, yet what is being done to address them?! An integral part of providing education to the students in our community is also providing mental wellness help as well. PUSD should take note to the positive changes that were made in Piedmont, and use their Wellness Center idea as a model for our own district. Giving the students a place to feel safe, someone to talk to in a time of distress, or resources that might not be provided at home would be beneficial to ALL students.

Here is the link the the article of the Piedmont Wellness Center that was founded in 2007.
Web Link

PP, PAUSD adopted a wellness center model. There also work closely with other organizations in the community. There is a web page with links to multiple services: Web Link And their Welness Center information: Web Link

Here is what I found doing a search on mental health on PUSD’s website: Web Link

Of course, we can always do more.

Had a Child in Special ED that had to go to Village because of her Mental Health Issues. Terrible school and rude staff to children that I observed and the school grounds an rooms were a filthy mess. No excuse for a town like ours.

I volunteer / answer the SUICIDE/TALK/Crisis line calls and 90% of the time I talk to a student high school age or younger it isn't that the don't know where to go for help/resources, it's that their parents are ashamed or dismiss their depression as not a big deal and they don't get them help even when they ask for it - so I like the 3 Tiered approach but believe a lot of education and work needs to be done with the families themselves as well as the schools.

----A lot of times our work with our families consists of dealing with stigmas that are surrounding mental health

More accurately:

----A lot of times our work with our families consists of dealing with people taught stigmas.

I'd like to see more conversations about everything that impacts overall health - food/gut function, sleep, relationships, creative expression, movement, etc. We are missing opportunities to address underlying and contributing factors.

Kathleen, I grew up in Pleasanton, taught in the schools here, and now have kids in PUSD. I can tell you from my 30+ years of experience that the district's "so called" wellness model is failing and all the recent suicides at the high school are proof.

Pleasanton Parent, the district has failed my child as well. My son has extreme anxiety due to an incident on the playground where another child hit my son. No services were offered to my child and we have spent thousands of dollars on outside therapy to help our son cope with the outcome of the incident.

Brittney, I couldn't agree more!! A lot of work needs to be done with both the parents and the schools because it needs to be a collaborative effort.

Harold, YES! Let's help get rid of the terrible stigmas regarding mental health issues!

Why is mental health a school responsibility? We take our children to doctors for physical health, we take our kids to dentists for oral health? Why would we take them to schools for mental health? We dont and shouldn't.

Now schools should acommodate mental health plans perscribed by a mental health professional, but they should be responsible for identifying, diagnosis, treatment, etc.

We tax our schools enough already, keep all health care to professionals, not schools.

Why would we take them to schools for mental health? We dont and shouldn't.

Now schools should acommodate mental health plans perscribed by a mental health professional, but they should be responsible for identifying, diagnosis, treatment, etc.

We tax our schools enough already, keep all health care to professionals, not schools.

PP - first, I'm assuming that the "Now schools" statement was meant to be finished with a question mark so it makes sense? Second, schools are the front-line in terms of identifying issues -they see these kids every day and can notice changes and have relationships with students. The sad truth is that there is a % of the parent population who don't interact with their kids for whatever reason, refuse to acknowledge that their child is, at may be, at risk, or that they themselves are a significant part of the problem. Complete diagnosis and treatment are, as should be, left to the professionals and I don't think anyone in PUSD would act otherwise. I have had two kids go through HP and AV and the counseling staff and teachers have demonstrated repeatedly just how engaged and involved they are with the students as well as concerned for their well-being both now and in the future -they are the ones who saw my children in this environment and that my kids would also talk to. It's not 'taxing' to PUSD, it's part of the educational process that comes with the job and I've not spoken to an educator in this district who hasn't embraced this aspect as part of their job.


Lastly, our schools, teachers, and counselors are one of the focal points in this community, and provide so much more to so many students than just the educational facet in lives.

Ennis,
Nope - was meant to be a statement not a question. We philosophically disagree on the function and responsibilities of schools. Schools teach, not treat.

Again, i agree schools need to have some capability around supporting physical and mental needs, but they are not primary treatment centers.

@PP,

Are you trying to live in the 1920's? Schools need to do much more these days.

BobB,
No im not, and i agree they need more, but they need to remain core to teaching.
parenting/healthcare/housing/tucking kids in to bed at night dont belong in schools.
You want to bring trades back to schools as electives, im in. You want to add engineering or finance to younger ages i fully support.

I work in SPED in a neighboring district. The number of high school students with mental health issues is staggering. The district needs to serve these students’ needs, and these diagnoses manifest themselves most profoundly at school. There is a HS class at one school that serves students with bi-polar, anxiety, depression and OCD. There is access to a psychologist all day long. Academics are modified in hopes that these students can, with support, earn a HS diploma - even if they can’t drag themselves out of bed until 11am due to depression. THE CLASS IS FULL. There is a waiting list. There is a mental health crisis going on right now - and assuming parents will “deal with it outside of school” is just not recognizing the scope of the issue. School don’t diagnose, but they refer. Most parents don’t know about resources that are available.
If schools don’t provide services on-site they need to pay for students to attend private programs offering mental health services which cost taxpayers huge $$$.
FYI

I think facebook/snapchat and other social network have a lot to do with their depression.. In the old days, the peer pressure relatively end after school ends everyday.. but now they constantly talk on social net work, family has less influences on them.. and it only get worse. Thats my personal opinions

On the front lines,
Yes, we do have a mental health issue. Again, schools should accomodate (ie what you described, modified classes/access to a counselor) but we should not place the responsibility to diagnose and treat on the schools. Thats also an unfair burden on the teachers and taxpayers.
Schools also shouldn't foot the bill for private sessions. Again that is not their responsibility nor taxpayers. Your premise is this is something schools are obligated to provide, and theyre not.
Also. What are these kids to do in the summer months? Mental health is a school year issue only? Come on. Lets be realistic and fair with our expectations on our schools. Otherwise we're going to dilute what a school is supposed to do.....kind of like BART trying to solve the housing issue in ca

There is irony here in that the former Tri-Valley YMCA was building out a family and mental health service in their new offices next to the Fairgrounds. We had developed a great space, raised funding to support access for all those in need without financial means, hired a top-notch therapist, and had started to help kids and families. Then the hostile takeover occurred by the YMCA of the Central Bay (Oakland) and these badly needed services were shuttered as being not profitable.