CHATTANOOGA, Tenn \u2014 The Hamilton County School Board will hear from dozens of students at its meeting Thursday afternoon, where they’ll once again discuss access to mental health services in the district’s schools.<\/p>\n
During that meeting, board members voted to table Board Member Ben Connor’s amendment to reinstate Centerstone, and in favor of letting a Request for Proposal (RFP) process go forward instead.<\/p>\n
Watch a livestream of the meeting below:<\/p>\n
This comes after the board voted in August to end their agreement<\/a> with Centerstone, a private health care company — and after last month’s meeting, which ended with one board member storming off while screaming “blood on your hands!<\/a>“<\/p>\n Centerstone previously offered in-school therapy for students at no extra cost to the school district.<\/p>\n Some board members who voted to end the Centerstone agreement cited concerns over background checks, a lack of transparency, and the organization\u2019s perceived ‘ideology.’<\/p>\n In September, board member Ben Connor proposed a policy revision<\/a> that would let Centerstone return temporarily, provided that new safeguards were put in place. <\/p>\n