County Executive, Ryan McMahon, began an initiative to increase awareness and offer support for schools to offer mental health services to struggling students. The only school district to reject this much needed help was Fayetteville Manlius. Anti depressant prescriptions are at an all time high among teenagers, including many at FM. Parents are having to wait weeks, or even months, to get their kids much needed therapy. Unfortunately, too many kids didn’t make it. The darkness of depression was too overwhelming and they felt there was no other way out. I suspect having qualified mental health professionals in the schools could have prevented many of these deaths. They would have found hope. Dr. Craig Tice must reverse this decision and accept the help that is so desperately needed by so many kids in our district. Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of. Don’t feed the stigma, fight it. Accept the resources our County Executive is offering. Our kids deserve it.