Peoria school district rejects federal grant to provide mental health services to students

PHOENIX – A federal grant to provide mental health services to Peoria students was rejected in early September.

The Peoria Unified School District’s governing board prevented an extension of the program following a 2-2 split vote.

The grant, which was awarded to the school district in 2019, had $275,000 left to use toward employing three social work field instructors who oversee the districts 14 social work interns, AZCentral reported.

Beth Lewis, executive director of Save Our Schools Arizona, an organization that aims to fight for public schools, talked with KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Outspoken with Bruce and Gaydos on Tuesday to answer why the services were stopped.

Lewis points to members of the board, such as Heather Rooks, who Lewis said pushes culture wars and intends to remove social workers from school campuses.

“It is devastating to these kids, their families, the community and to teachers who need that support,” Lewis said.

Rooks was joined by Governing Board President Becky Proudfit as the two people to vote against the services. Proudfit was quoted by AZCentral as saying the extension was just a “bandaid” and that she wanted to see a more comprehensive plan. The same article reported that Proudfit said she did not oppose social workers in general.

Lewis claimed that Rooks wants students who need mental health services to go to an outside provider.

“This is not the reality for Arizona families and our schools have always provided that support,” Lewis said. “And social workers are truly the glue and they are the folks who deal with the most dire crises situations that would leave most people … absolutely shook to their core.”

The social workers that relied on the grant money for employment face being laid off now that the remaining money will be sent back to the federal government. The district is looking to find a short-term fix to keep the workers employed, according to 12News.

Lewis shared a post one of the social workers, who she said was being laid off, shared on social media. The post detailed how the worker helped students whose parents had died, provided interventions for youth who were considering taking their own life, getting weekend food boxes for hungry children and supplying mattresses for kids who were homeless.

“These are the kind of things that Peoria kids won’t have access to because Heather Rooks decided that parents should take care of this and Becky Proudfit said that it was just a ‘bandaid,'” Lewis said.

Lewis admitted that the grant was still not enough to address the entirety of mental health issues students might face but said it was a start.

“I think anybody in this country would agree that student mental health is the number one priority,” Lewis said. “And we know the kids can’t learn when those needs are not addressed.”