Chandler school board narrowly renews mental health service contract

By Jason W. Brooks
Mail | X: @JasonWBrooks2

An item that wasn’t even slated for discussion at the Chandler Unified School District Governing Board’s June 25 meeting ended up being one of the most time-consuming discussions and closest votes of the evening.

The CUSD board approved a pair of annual service contracts with Southwest Behavioral & Health Services, Inc. by a 3-2 vote, with board members Ryan Heap and Kurt Rohrs dissenting.

Heap read some significant amount of proposed additions and rewrites to the MOU, or memorandum of understanding, between the district and Southwest Behavioral Health. The proposed changes seemed geared toward both protecting CUSD from being stuck with a bill and also to make Southwest jump through additional services to have the district approve some services.

Rohrs’ motion to move the Southwest contract and an approval of digital resources from the consent agenda to action items, for further discussion, was approved unanimously. But his motion to maintain the provisions of the 2024-25 MOU until staff and legal counsel could review Heap’s proposed changes, and table a vote on the 2025-26 Southwest contract, was not successful.

That’s when the board finally voted on whether to approve the 2025-26 contract as presented by the 3-2 margin.

Superintendent Frank Narducci pointed out that many services CUSD students receive from Southwest are already coordinated by district staff — especially if the student is on an IEP (individual education plan) or a similar partnership plan.

Narducci also said Southwest staff, with whom the district has multiple contracts, is required to get parent or guardian consent for all counseling or other remedies involving students.

We invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this topic. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org.   Email Jason W. Brooks at jbrooks@iniusa.org.

Jason W. Brooks
News Editor | Chandler Independent

Jason W. Brooks joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in July 2021 as an associate editor. After a year covering Buckeye, he has covered Chandler since the fall of 2022, in addition to assisting the Daily Independent throughout his time at INI.

Education: University of New Mexico, bachelor of arts in journalism and mass communication, print emphasis, English minor.

Random Fact: He and his siblings witnessed a Space Shuttle launch and landing in the same year in person, on opposite coasts.

Hobbies: Karaoke, bicycling and American Sign Language.

Community: He supports animal shelters.