In a 4-4 vote, the Ramapo Indian Hills Board of Education decided Monday to cancel all mental health programs for the coming school year. One board member missing the vote. An emergency meeting has been scheduled that some hope will lead to a reversal of the decision.
Many parents were caught off guard by the vote, and some said that the programs have been lifesaving for struggling children. Board of Education member Brian DeLaite said, “Depression among teenage kids is at practically an epidemic level; couple that with the fact that suicide amongst 14- and 15-year-olds is the number one cause of death in the country. You know, there’s a lot of reasons, particularly coming out of COVID, why it’s essential in my opinion to provide these services to kids in the schools.”
