THE MORNING CALL  OPINION By STATE REP. MALCOLM KENYATTA SEP 09, 2019| 8:00 AM

East Penn school board members in May approved a three-year contract with Communities in Schools to provide mental health services for students. The program runs provides education for the community on mental health issues and does group and individual counseling at Emmaus High School. State and local officials assert many districts don’t have the number of mental health workers they need. (Morning Call file photo) In a Pennsylvania where our children have the mental health resources they need, Phillip Spruill Jr. would be entering sixth grade this school year. In that Pennsylvania, Phillip’s laughter would mingle in the hallways of Benjamin B. Comegys School in Philadelphia with that of his classmates, as a new academic year flush with possibilities begins. In that Pennsylvania, Phillip would feel supported, he would have the proper guidance to work through the bullying that many children his age endure, and maybe the bullying would be lessened, because other children in his public school would have the resources they need, too. In a Pennsylvania where children have the mental health resources they need, Phillip’s parents, Phillip Sr. and Lindarise Spruill, would get to see their oldest child celebrate his 12th birthday in January 2020, and many, many more birthdays after that one. In such a Pennsylvania, Phillip’s younger siblings wouldn’t grow up without the guidance and protection of their big brother.

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