The passage of a resolution to recognize September as National Suicide Prevention Month turned into a heated, nearly 24-minute-long back-and-forth between several Conroe ISD trustees.
“I am a bit disappointed that [with] such an important topic, we spent time talking about very unserious matters,” Trustee Stacey Chase said during this week’s board meeting.
Chase, who worked on the proposal with the district’s legal counsel, Carrie Galatas, fielded Trustee Tiffany Baumann Nelson’s questions about whether funding was attached to the resolution.
When initially introducing the resolution, Chase reiterated the board’s role in ensuring that programs addressing safe school culture are “funded, accessible and designed” to meet the needs of all students.
She urged her fellow trustees to vote in favor of adopting the resolution to show the community their “reinforced commitment” to mental health and the well-being of students. Chase’s request comes in the wake of a student’s death by suicide last month.
“I will never be the same since knowing [student’s name redacted per the request of their family] and knowing what I lost,” Alex Hant, a senior at The Woodlands High School, said during public comments. ”None of you will ever understand her as more than an anecdote, but I will, for the rest of my life, live with it.”
Hant went on to suggest the district — which she described as having “failed” the student body — look into restorative practices and not punitive measures for students with mental illnesses who turn in late class work or miss hours.
Sumya Paruchuri, Hant’s classmate and friend, recounted their experience returning to school after being institutionalized for depression and anxiety for two weeks during their sophomore year.
Paruchuri — who identifies as gender nonconforming — said when they attended a meeting to discuss their 504 plan or outline how the school could best support them, they were “blamed the entire time for causing the problems” they were struggling with.
“Students are constantly forced to either choose their well-being or grades and because of the social environment, we often choose our grades,” Paruchuri added.
Hant told the Houston Press that she was “extremely annoyed” at Nelson’s focus on what she described as a minuscule funding point. She noted that it was egregious that Nelson could not affirm the resolution without bringing up this baseless argument.
“It was very telling for the group who tries to slay invisible dragons at the expense of the district in the name of the children to be anything other than vocal supporters of something actually hurting out children,” a community member who declined to be named said.
Nelson acknowledged the student’s death within Tuesday night’s opening prayer and noted that she “wholeheartedly agreed” that suicide is a problem and the district needed to take action.
However, Nelson said she had questions about this action. She linked funding from a district strategic goal to the resolution, arguing that the two referred to the same topic of “safe and collaborative” school culture.
Chase again clarified that the resolution was a chance for the board to show their commitment to safe school environments.
“It is exactly in line with strategic goals that we’ve already set and agreed to,” Chase said. “That’s why that reference is there.”
Board president Skeeter Hubert jumped in after Nelson again asked if the resolution meant the trustees were signing off on additional funding to confirm they were not. He added that Nelson is familiar with how approving money for programs works, which would require a presentation to the board if they were taking such action.
Trustees Misty Odenweller and Melissa Dungan supported Nelson’s call to clarify the resolution. Nelson argued that if Trustee Theresa Wagaman could propose making it clear that the district wanted to protect the mental health of all its community members, not just students, why couldn’t she add her alteration to the resolution’s language.
“Why are we so combative on something that —” Chase said before being cut off by Nelson, who asserted she was just asking a question.
“This is elementary. It’s like you got a toy. I need a toy,” Trustee Datren Williams said. “You did it. I need to do it. This is childish.”
Superintendent Dr. Curtis Null interrupted to indicate that the board approved the district improvement plan last year, which included the district’s strategic goals Nelson was referring to.
He noted that this school year’s district improvement plan will be presented at next month’s board meeting.
“This is a simple thing. This is about suicide prevention,” Nelson said. “You guys are turning it into a political argument and stance, like oh ‘she must not be for suicide prevention.’”
“Let’s vote,” Williams said sarcastically. “You’re definitely the victim.”
The trustees voted to approve an amendment that would add language to the district’s strategic goal Nelson took issue with as being one that was approved in the past for the “2023-2024” school year.
Wagaman was the sole dissenter of the amendment to address Nelson’s concerns, and Chase’s initial resolution passed unanimously.
The Houston Press reached out to Nelson and Chase for a comment regarding the discussion about the resolution. Neither responded in time for publication.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
