Dear Ms. Fenton;
Please review the following emails I sent to the Superintendent in SAU50 regarding the Social and Emotional Learning taking place in the district. There is a difference of opinion on what constitutes assessing and servicing the mental health of children through SEL.
From my research, especially when the Every Student Succeeds Act was passed, this kind of mental health service (SEL) in the classroom would require parental or guardian consent.
According to ESSA:
Much of the information supporting SEL in schools references how SEL treats the mental health of children. However, the Superintendent in SAU50 does not believe they need consent as required by federal law. Parental rights groups have relied on this law and this specific language as a way for parents and guardians to monitor mental health services for their children.
I am not here to judge the many SEL programs currently in use in our public schools, only that our school administrators are not following federal law and obtaining parental consent. It shouldn’t take a parent having to sue their school district in order to exercise their right to consent on these mental health services.
I include the emails sent to Superintendent Zadvarec that confirm this type of mental health service is provided in SAU50 and that there has been no effort to obtain parental consent.
If I am incorrect on this law and how it applies to SEL services, then we will have to look at state-level legislation to make sure parents are able to exercise their right to consent. Fortunately, ethical guidelines and codes of conduct among mental health providers are pro-parent involvement–which is good. But as you can see from the federal law, parents do not want their children participating in any of these mental health services without their informed consent.
I am asking you to conduct an investigation on whether SAU50 is violating federal law, and therefore did the educator also violate the Code of Ethics and the Code of Conduct?
Sincerely,
Ann Marie Banfield
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SENT Oct. 12, 2022:
Dear Superintendent Zedrevec and Principal Hallee:
Pursuant to the Right to Know Law (RSA, 91-1), I am requesting public access, within 5 business days, to the governmental records:
1) A copy of the consent form sent to parents by Maggie Olsen, School counselor, or any other representative from the Greenland School District, to treat children with the Kimochis program.
2) A copy of the credentials of all counselors or school personnel who will be providing therapy for students using the Kimochis program.
3) A copy of all questions on any screenings or assessments used to accompany the Kimochis program.
Per RSA 91-A:4IV(C) If you deny any portion of this request, please cite the specific exemption used to justify the denial to make each record, or part thereof, available for inspection along with a brief explanation of how the exemption applies to the information withheld.
Please let me know when these records are available for inspection or you may email the records to me at Banfieldannmarie@gmail.com.
Thank you for your lawful attention to this matter.
For more information on this: https://granitegrok.com/blog/2022/10/greenland-counselor-misleading-parents-on-sel-psychological-profiling
Sincerely,
Ann Marie Banfield
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1) A copy of the consent form sent to parents by Maggie Olsen, School counselor, or any other representative from the Greenland School District, to treat children with the Kimochis program. A letter was sent to parents indicating what universal programming the counselor would be doing with the children. Discussions at the universal level are whole class teaching. As such, she is not “treating” children.
2) A copy of the credentials of all counselors or school personnel who will be providing therapy for students using the Kimochis program. The counselor is not offering therapy for students with the Kimochis program. That said, the counselor is a certified school counselor (endorsement 0040).
3) A copy of all questions on any screenings or assessments used to accompany the Kimochis program.
The counselor is not doing any screenings or assessments accompanying the Kimochis program. There is not any student identifiable information being collected.
Stephen Zadravec
SENT OCT. 13, 2022:
Superintendent Zadvarec,
I should tell you that I made sure early on, with the national push for mental health treatment in the schools, to confirm that these kinds of programs would be categorized as treating the mental health of children. Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires parental consent when you provide mental health services.
SEL funding is coming through the SAMHSA grant, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. All SEL programs must be approved by CASEL.
I spoke with parent advocate attorneys during the writing of ESSA. ESSA included the provision to require consent by parents on the mental health service or assessment of children enrolled in a public school. Kimochis would be considered group therapy among children.
From the University of Maryland School of Medicine: https://www.schoolmentalhealth.org/media/SOM/Microsites/NCSMH/Documents/Resources/Every-Student-Succeeds-Act.pdf
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and School Mental Health: Implications for Schools, Districts, and States
Resources: School Mental Health and ESSA:
Excerpt:
Website
Relevant Information: Title IV Part A (SSAEC): flexible block grant. Districts must use at least 20% of these funds on efforts to improve “student mental and behavioral health, school climate, or school safety.” Includes a list of example activities, including ‘comprehensive school mental and behavioral health delivery systems’.
From the National Library of Medicine:
Social and emotional learning: a framework for promoting mental health and reducing risk behavior in children and youth
Abstract
Many programs have been developed to help schools enhance students’ health and reduce the prevalence of drug use, violence, and high-risk sexual behaviors. How should educators choose among these? This article describes selection criteria based on theory, research, and best educational practice that identify key social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies and program features. The SEL competencies for students include 17 skills and attitudes organized into four groups: awareness of self and others; positive attitudes and values; responsible decision making; and social interaction skills. The 11 program features critical to the success of school-based SEL programs emphasize curriculum design, coordination with larger systems, educator preparation and support, and program evaluation. Developed by the Collaborative to Advance Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), the SEL framework can be used to guide selection of research-based prevention programs that address health, substance abuse, violence prevention, sexuality, character, and social skills.
The National Association on Mental Health cited SEL as a support for children who are coping with “mental health conditions.”
Kimochis also promotes their program to the mental health professionals working in the school, and then includes testimonials by therapists.
For Mental Health Professionals
Kimochis® short cuts the talking that is the cornerstone of many therapies.
They allow kids and adults to rapidly and safely explore and translate emotions into root causes that can be dealt with immediately.
Listed on the Child Therapy List / The Best Way to Get Help for Your Child: Kimochis
Kimochis: Getting Started in a Mental Health Setting
I make no judgments on the Kimochis program itself. This program may very well be one that supports the mental health of children in the district, but that is not the point. The point is, this should be done with informed consent by parents.
If the SEL program in the future includes a screening or assessment of children, that too would require the school counselor to obtain informed consent.
What happens if a child, while sharing their “feelings,” since that is the goal of Kimochis, decides to revisit trauma? What is the school counselor trained to do under these conditions? School Counselors do not have the education or clinical training that I would want for my children if they were in that position.
Here is a frightening example of good intentions gone bad. Children who’ve suffered the loss of a loved one can experience trauma, but as you will see in the video, psychotherapeutic techniques (10:00) can have a negative impact on children too. In this example, you can see how it even became dangerous. While Kimochis may be the tool that draws out a child’s feelings and emotions, how is that then managed? All of this should be explained to parents so they know exactly what this kind of therapy looks like in the classroom, and how it will impact their children. That is exactly why informed consent was added to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA.)
I will forward all of this to Diana Fenton at the New Hampshire Department of Education so that she can begin an investigation.
Since I have received professional advice from those who do have the credentials and education in mental health, confirming this program does treat the mental health of children, I would highly advise that you seek legal advice. This may boil down to litigation at some point. I would certainly advise parents to seek legal advice if they have not consented to any SEL program used on their children without their consent.
You are not the first school administrator to deny that this kind of SEL treatment is not mental health treatment, but I have a Phd Child Psychologist telling me the opposite. If you were administering cancer treatment to all children in a class but denied it was a cancer treatment, biy I had a cancer specialist telling me it is a cancer treatment, I’m going to have to believe the cancer specialist.
This is how parents lose trust in the people working with their children. Similar to when the bus driver was assigned to another bus route after parents brought forth information about how he was acting inappropriately towards their son. It is critical that the leadership in this district focus on building back that trust.
One way to build trust is to understand that parents will certainly see the connection to the school counselor using an SEL program that has been reported as mental health treatment for their children. There is plenty of evidence to confirm this. It would be a positive step forward in building back that trust by explaining all of this to parents, and asking for their permission.
Thank you again for your prompt response.
