A 2023 decision by the Grossmont Union High School District governing board to change mental health providers was based on a misrepresentation of referrals to services for transgender youth.

That’s according to a San Diego County civil grand jury report published Monday.

On July 20, 2023, the board was set to vote on renewing a contract with San Diego Youth Services. The district had worked with the provider since 1998.

Anthony Carnevale, a parent in the district and a member of the Cajon Valley school board, spoke during public comment.

“I’ve spent a great deal of time looking into San Diego Youth Services,” he told the board. “They advertise talks to kids on top surgery and transitioning.”

He referred to a San Diego Youth Services program called “Our Safe Place.” It provides mental health services for LGBTQ+ youth and can provide referrals to gender-affirming care.

That led Jim Kelly to request that the board discuss the contract with San Diego Youth Services. Board member Gary Woods said Carnevale had given information to the superintendent.

“We need to look for alternatives that best reflect the East County values,” Woods said.

The board voted three to one to deny renewal of the contract. Woods, Jim Kelly and Robert Shield voted no on the renewal. Elva Salinas voted yes. Chris Fite was absent.

The grand jury said the board’s decision was based on “falsehoods and misrepresentations” about care provided to LGBTQ+ students. Our Safe Place services weren’t part of San Diego Youth Services’ contract with the district, they said.

“Our Safe Place was not a program that was actually located within the schools,” Jonathan Castillo, CEO of San Diego Youth Services, said in an interview Friday.

Its school-based services are focused on mental health, suicide prevention and bullying prevention, Castillo said, and clinicians can refer students to outside programs like Our Safe Place if they think it’s appropriate.

According to the jury report, six students were referred to Our Safe Place between 2017 and 2023.

“When the need is identified and it comes up, with the consent of parents and with the consent of, of course, the student as well, we link them to those services,” Castillo said.

The report says the district’s 2023-2024 school year started with no district-wide suicide prevention program in place and without six mental health clinicians. It took four months for a new provider to start working for the district, according to the report.

The jury found that the board’s decision did not “represent the community’s best interests” and “was potentially harmful to students.”

“As public servants, it matters whether the Board’s decisions adhered to District policies, the California Department of Education Code, and their fiduciary duties,” the report said. “Given the community’s dissent, as evidenced by public comments at subsequent Board meetings, media coverage, and a grassroots recall effort targeting Trustees, the Grand Jury considered the Grossmont Union High School District’s governance practices a matter warranting investigation.”

In an email, district spokesperson Collin McGlashen wrote that the board has the authority to make decisions about district resources.

“Reasonable people may disagree with those decisions,” he wrote. “However, disagreement with a Board decision is not, in and of itself, evidence that Board policies, bylaws, or the Education Code were violated.”

The report makes 10 recommendations for the district’s board. One is for the district to allow San Diego Youth Services to provide services to three high schools through its East County Behavioral Health Clinic. An agreement for those services expires in June 2027.

Other recommendations include following a board policy that “states that the best interests of students must not be secondary to the personal interests of Board members.”

The district has 90 days to comment on the report’s findings and recommendations.