School board voted 4-3 to halt construction on health clinic in Grosse Pointe Farms

GROSSE POINTE FARMS, Mich. – An emergency assembly a few hotly-debated faculty well being clinic ends with the choice to not transfer ahead with building.

The concept of placing in a free well being clinic at Grosse Pointe North Excessive College has been in play because the summer time of 2022.

It could be open to all ages 5 to 21 from the pointes’ and Harper Woods to supply free bodily and psychological well being providers.

“If this board chooses to cancel this venture, it’s declaring to the scholars who wrestle with entry to bodily and psychological healthcare that resurfacing a baseball discipline or paving a car parking zone is extra vital than their wants,” stated a lady to the who took the rostrum.

“Our faculty district and, subsequently, our group is on the verge of receiving a tremendous reward,” stated one other lady who took to the rostrum. “The reward of readily accessible, high quality, no value, bodily and psychological healthcare for all youth in our group.”

The district was approached by Oakwood Well being, which is Corewell, to companion with this. The fee to the district is sort of $1 million out of its sinking fund to construct it. Working prices afterward wouldn’t come out of the district’s pocket.

Oakwood Well being would run it.

“How are you going to consider that spending $1 million from the sinking fund to rework 200,000 sq. ft for a teen clinic is fiscally accountable given the present crucial path wants of the district,” stated Terrance Collins.

The district has been despatched a authorized menace on behalf of unnamed residents who allege utilizing sinking funds for the clinic is legally questionable.

The district’s attorneys disagree.

The query being requested Thursday (Jan. 19) evening is whether or not or not the district ought to halt building and attempt to discover a fund supply that isn’t taxpayer {dollars}.

“You appear to neglect that these selections are being made with our cash,” stated a person talking on the podium. “Your focus ought to be offering high quality training to each little one within the system. Any selections exterior the training objective, particularly one thing as costly and out of doors of the purview of training, ought to be taken to the taxpayers.”

The college board voted 4-3 to halt building on the well being clinic at Grosse Pointe North Excessive College.