At the beginning of the legislative session, Senator Dan Innis proposed legislation that would allow school districts to contract with a health care provider, health system, or community partner to establish a school based health center for the purpose of providing services to students beyond the scope of school nursing services. The public made sure this dangerous Bill never made it out of the New Hampshire Senate.
Unfortunately some schools in New Hampshire have gone rogue, and are now working with school based health clinics like Amoskeag in Manchester. My hope is that a parent and attorney will challenge this in court since there has been no legislative approval for these kinds of clinics in our schools.
What have we found out about some of these clinics around the country? We know a high school girl in Maine was prescribed an antidepressant without her parents’ knowledge or consent. There are plenty of examples where parents have been kept in the dark when their child visits the school-based health clinic.
The latest example comes from Seattle, where a public school-based health clinic will be offering children cross-sex hormones as part of their school day.
What does Amoskeag offer children who visit its school-based health clinic in Manchester? You can find more about that here.
First, parents need to ensure that each visit to a school counselor, behaviorist, doctor, or nurse is accompanied by a parent. In addition, parents should consent to all of this. That does not mean blanket consent but consent for each visit and service.
Some parents concerned about privacy rights or who do not trust that they will be respected in their parental role have already started notifying the school district that they are not to provide these services to their children.
If parents do encounter problems associated with these school based health clinics, they can contact me, and I will help them look into the situation. Some of the employees working in these clinics have made it clear that parents will be cut out of this process. They will not notify them or ask them for consent. Since it’s federally funded, they don’t believe parents have a right to know or consent to this treatment. That’s something every parent needs to consider if their district heads in this direction.
