ADA TOWNSHIP, Mich. — District leaders at Forest Hills Public Schools held a panel Thursday night on student mental health and school safety.
From school resource officers to reentry plans for students hospitalized for depression or anxiety, the positions and policies in place at Forest Hills today weren't always a reality for its panelists when they were in school, including Cindi Reynolds, an elementary school counselor.
"Resiliency is huge," Reynolds said, speaking on students' ability to bounce back from minor and major setbacks. "No one's life is perfect. With social media, life looks perfect to a lot of us."
Working with younger children, Reynolds says she tries to normalize the day-to-day stressors of life in a public setting: "I'll ask the kids, 'Who has had a problem today?' Everyone's hand goes up."
While depression and struggles with self-harm are less common at the elementary level, Reynolds sees issues with anxiety: "That What If? question."
"I think kids need a lot of mental health support so they can be resilient," said Elizabeth Wilson Fischer, a parent of three. "I don't think that's a skill that's naturally had. I think it's something that needs to be taught, practiced, learned."
For Wilson Fischer, she'd like to see students with 504 plans have access to a social worker, a benefit she says is already afforded to students at Forest Hills with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs). Both 504 plans and IEPs offer formal help for students with disabilities, though their requirements and eligibility vary.
"That's not happening and I would like that to happen within the district," Wilson Fischer said.
In response to a question from a parent during the panel, the district noted that, like a family, they're always "working within their means."
