Killingly, CT Board of Ed resolve mental health services complaint

Almost two and a half years ago, Kristine Cicchetti’s daughter was a sophomore at Killingly High School, advocating for mental health services on campus with her mother. This past spring, Cicchetti saw her daughter walk at graduation and receive her diploma, yet the services the two fought for had still not been guaranteed to the school district.

Now 27 months since the Connecticut State Department of Education began investigating the Killingly Board of Education’s “reluctance” to address student mental health and well-being , Cicchetti and other parents who filed a 10-4b complaint and the Board have reached an agreement that will provide expanded full-time mental health services at Killingly High School and Killingly Intermediate School.

Attorney Andrew Feinstein, representing concerned Killingly residents and parents; attorney Patrick Noonan, representing the Killingly Board of Education; and Mike McKeon, the attorney representing the Connecticut State Department of Education, signed a resolution agreement “that is designed to create far more robust emotional, behavioral and mental health services to Killingly students,” McKeon said to the Board of Education impartial hearing panel on Friday.

“This obviously is an achievement for not only the students of Killingly but the staff and parents,” Cicchetti told The Connecticut Mirror. “The collective effort is really what brought us here in advocating for these services, and we’re happy that we finally got here. We’re a little disheartened by how long it took, but that’s in the past.”

“This is a significant victory for the students of Killingly,” said Gov. Ned Lamont in a statement. “Today’s resolution is a testament to the unwavering commitment of the Connecticut State Department of Education and the State Board of Education in prioritizing the social, behavioral, and mental health of our students.”

Killingly’s initial reluctance to act

In March 2022, Killingly’s majority-Republican Board of Education denied a grant-funded mental health center at the high school in a 6-3 vote. A month later, Killingly residents claimed the board had violated the “educational interests” of the state due to their failure to provide mental health support to students and filed the official complaint.

A school survey found that 14.7% of student respondents reported that they had seriously considered suicide. The Board’s chair at the time, Norm Ferron, said he thought it was “not that big” of a number, according to the original complaint to the state.

Only days later, the state agreed to investigate the residents’ claim, which was unusual.

In October 2022 , the state issued an investigative report on the district’s “repeated failure and refusal to implement reasonable interventions to address its students’ clear mental health, social-emotional and behavioral needs.”

The debate on mental health provisions at the school became entrenched in politics : those opposed to the mental health center, including Ferron, raised complaints about the services potentially giving advice to students on “controversial topics” such as cancel culture, abortion and gender identity.

“​​Basically, what is a stranger to the parents can be advising their child on any issue,” Ferron said at the time. “They might be giving them counseling directly opposed to the views of the parents.”

The disagreement divided the town.

“The premise of why they voted it down in the beginning, ‘parental rights’ [for] gender Identity counseling, abortions, [saying] ‘they’re going to advise on political parties,’ it was just conspiracy theories” another parent, Christine Rosati Randall, told the CT Mirror at Friday morning’s settlement hearing.

Over a year after the complaint was filed, the Killingly Board of Education flipped to Democratic control (5-4) in the November 2023 election, days before the hearing was set to begin.

The new Board then voted to approve a memorandum of understanding for a mental health provider to come into the Killingly schools, a reversal of the previous vote. Still, a hearing took place, moderated by impartial Department of Education officials, in October 2023, to examine the previous Board’s actions.

After more hearings, many hotly contested and tense, it seemed in April that mental health counseling would be coming to Killingly schools during the next school year.

“It would appear that the students of Killingly are finally getting what they needed for so long … and we would very much like this to be resolved before the beginning of the school year,” McKeon said at the April hearing.

The ultimate resolution

Now, three months later, the parties have reached an agreement and the matter was officially closed this morning.

Under the resolution , the Killingly Board of Education has agreed to provide expanded, full-time mental health services at Killingly High School and Killingly Intermediate School, and part-time services at Killingly Memorial School, with Community Health Resources, Inc.

CHR has agreed to communicate appropriately with families when necessary and publicize “its offerings to parents and students so that any student in need can secure mental health services,” Feinstein said.

“Today, the parties appear before this panel united,” McKeon said. “[I wish] to acknowledge and thank the concerned residents, parents of Killingly students … They’ve shown courage, they’ve shown resilience. They’ve certainly shown patience, and they’ve shown an unshakeable devotion to the well-being of Killingly children.”

The three attorneys representing the parents, the Killingly Board and CSDE each signed the physical agreement in front of the panel and audience members.

“Today’s welcome victory for the students of Killingly is due to the clear, persistent, and effective advocacy by the State Department of Education and, specifically, by its dedicated Commissioner,” Feinstein said. “The State Board of Education, in concert with the Department, has been steadfast in holding that the social, behavioral and mental health of students is a critical part of the educational mission of the state of Connecticut. The 10-4b complaint being resolved today made it clear that school districts need to devote staff, resources and attention to the emotional needs of students.”

Following the formal adjournment of the case, state board Vice Chair Erin Benham, who sat on the panel, cheerfully congratulated both Cicchetti and Rosati Randall, saying she’d love to come visit the town soon.

“In the meantime, it will be nice to not have to see you for a while,” she joked.