Have you heard of the Ottawa Community Schools Network? The Ottawa Community School Network (OCSN) is part of a tangled web of government organizations, businesses, and non-profit organizations. Following standards and laws, this private/government partnership is usurping the roles and responsibilities of parents and preparing our youth and families to adopt a collectivist system of society and government. According to the website,
“The Ottawa Community Schools Network (OCSN) was formed to integrate the various health and community supports for students and families in the Ottawa Area into one seamless system delivered through existing school-based facilities.
OCSN recognizes that relatively little can be done in isolation, and that members must work together for collective impact. OCSN is a community led initiative that supports the development of full-service community schools through infrastructure and technical assistance within a collective impact framework.
In 2017 OCSN was started using OAISD and CMH Mental Health Millage dollars to begin the implementation of the community school strategy.”
The OCSN is coordinated through the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District (OAISD) and currently six out of eleven Ottawa County School Districts have partnering schools within this network: Allendale, Holland, Coopersville, Hudsonville, Hamilton, and Zealand. It’s kind of like the United Nations of Ottawa County Schools.
The OCSN has team members from school districts, the United Way, Ottawa County Community Mental Health, and the OAISD.
These team members are sometimes referred to as stakeholders. Although one would picture primary stakeholders in the educational system to be parents and children, in practice it appears that stakeholders are actually those who control and benefit from the system. In this case, the educational system stakeholders are the leaders in government agencies and non-profit organizations.
The OCSN was initially funded with County Mental Health (CMH) millage dollars, but today is financially supported with braided funding. The following sources fund the program:
Ottawa Area ISD – Provides funds to compensate the director position, technology, and other overhead costs of the program. It also provides in-kind office space and supplies.
Community Mental Health - Mental Health Millage dollars have been allocated towards helping cover the costs of the community school coordinator. ($142,000 in 2023)
31N6 funds- 31N funds are grant moneys used to support school mental health and support services. 31N6 state funds are used to support OCSN schools with the intention of increasing access to mental services for the general student population.
Donations from local non-profits and businesses.
District Funding- School districts pay a portion of the amount and support the cost of a full-time coordinator position.
The Employer of Record for the OCSN is Greater Ottawa County United Way.
The OCSN has many roles including:
Coordinating Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum
Screening students for mental health referrals
Managing behavior crisis situations
Coordinating staff professional development and wellness programs
Coordinating parenting classes
According to the job description, the OCSN Community School Coordinator is a member of the Community School Leadership Team, should be “social-justice oriented, and an advocate for inclusivity.” The Community School Coordinator has a variety of responsibilities including:
Implementing the community school standards
Organizing and overseeing assets
Building on community strengths and embracing diversity and inclusion
The OCSN participates in many school teams including:
CHILD STUDY TEAMS
Attendance teams
School improvement teams
According to the 2020-21 Annual Report, community schools are concerned with collaborative leadership, collective trust, and shared responsibility.
So, in my opinion, what is wrong with the OCSN structure? These stakeholders are slowly working to implement a collectivist system that is intended to meet the needs of the Whole Child, enabling and encouraging parents to bring their children to school all year round, including weekday evenings and weekends under the utopian goal of having all their primary needs met. The community school model shifts control of services from local school districts to centralized government bureaucracy. Decision making control is taken away from local school districts and replaced by OCSN teams. Rather than school districts focusing on education and consulting county health departments as needed, this model places county health departments in control of certain aspects of local school services. Upon participation in OCSN, school boards no longer determine policy in certain areas. Elected school boards are no longer in control or even involved. This is blatant government overreach.
…. And what are CHILD STUDY TEAMS?