A South Central Calhoun Community School District student with autism spent almost a month in the hospital while their family searched for a facility who would accept the child.
The family’s plight and his rural school district’s need for accessible mental health care has been on Superintendent Brad Anderson’s mind after the Jan. 4 deadly shooting at Perry High School.
And his concerns over the lack of accessible mental health care in Iowa’s rural areas is being echoed by educators and advocates across the state.
“I could tell you right now, we could have all the money in the world,” Anderson said, “but we’re not going to combat the fact that we are an hour and a half, two hours away from these facilities, and beds aren’t available.”
On Jan. 4, authorities say Dylan Butler, a 17-year-old student, shot and killed Ahmir Jolliff, 11, and injured seven others at Perry High School. Principal Dan Marburger, among those shot, died 10 days later. Butler’s motive for the shooting is still being investigated.