Officials in the Lakeland School District are no longer looking to bring a health center to the district.
District officials had been talking with the Wright Center about a partnership and held a community information session earlier this year. Superintendent Marc Wyandt said after the session officials began planning the district’s budget for the upcoming school year and decided to focus on other priorities.
He said charter school costs, as well as rising health care and special education costs, have resulted in a deficit. District facility projects also need attention.
“I don’t ever want to say that we immediately became uninterested … but on the hierarchy of priorities, we have some really important things that we’re doing right now that I think take precedent over the further exploration of a school-based health center,” he said.
Wyandt said the district is always looking for partnerships that benefit students, but the health center is not something they are actively pursuing.
Officials had discussed the concept since August of last year. The conversation started when school officials reached out to the Wright Center about providing mental and behavioral health services.
A health center could provide exams, physicals, vaccinations, health, nutrition, tobacco and substance use education, as well as mental and behavioral health screenings, accepting all insurances, with a sliding scale for those who qualify. Wyandt said there was the possibility of funding streams such as grants that would offset the cost of the health center.
He said the district had phenomenal conversations with the Wright Center, which operates a health center at West Scranton Intermediate School.
“As an organization, they are very, very focused on community health and specifically the needs of the student-age population, as well as the surrounding community,” Wyandt said. “The Wright Center I think was endeavoring to develop solutions that would meet the needs of not only our student population, but also the surrounding community. They were very generous with their time and helping to educate the district, our board and even our community on what a school-based health center could look like.”
He said the district provides mental health services to students through longstanding partnerships with Friendship House and the Scranton Counseling Center. They are working to develop a partnership with Northern Lights, another mental health provider.
“We’re continually looking at how we can provide services to our students who have needs with regard to mental health,” Wyandt said. “The needs seem to be growing every year.”
Monday Update
Then: Lakeland School District and the Wright Center discussed bringing a health center to the district.
Now: Lakeland officials are not looking to put a health center in the district and will instead focus on other projects. The district is open to ideas to provide mental health services to students.