President, Board of Directors
Dear President Saint Clair:
We are Bainbridge Youth Services (BYS). Our non-profit organization has been serving the mental health care needs of young people in this community for nearly 65 years.
We write to express our serious concerns about two recent decisions by the Bainbridge Island School District that adversely affect BYS: 1) restrictions that prevent students from accessing mental-health services during the school day, and 2) potential forced relocation of our organization.
First, student access to mental-health services.
We recently learned students at Bainbridge High School under 18 can no longer independently access BYS during the school day without parental sign-out. We have since been told that high school students must be supervised by district staff, except during lunch.
These recent changes were hastily implemented by the high school without consultation with BYS, families, or the young people directly affected.
We have not received a clear explanation of why these restrictions are necessary, why lunch is treated differently than the rest of the school day, or what alternative procedures, if any, were considered to preserve access to mental-health care for the students we serve.
We have provided counseling to more than 120 students since January 2026, including 37 students since the beginning of the current school year. However, since these restrictions were implemented, our building has been virtually empty during the school day.
We are concerned that decisions about student supervision and attendance are being made without sufficient consideration of their consequences for youth mental health and may violate students’ right to confidentially obtain mental-health services.
For a young person experiencing anxiety, depression, self-harm, or thoughts of suicide, a barrier to care can mean facing that distress without support. We are concerned that these restrictions will cause students to delay seeking care, miss ongoing counseling, or stop attending altogether, which will allow difficulties to worsen and potentially reach a crisis.
Timely, confidential access to mental health counseling matters because young people need a way to get help when they are struggling.
Second, the proposed relocation of BYS.
BYS has a lease with the school district on its current property through 2045. We have made significant investments of more than $450,000 to renovate our building, make it more welcoming, and upgrade our roof and windows.
We learned last week that district leadership appears to have identified a new location for BYS in a new building alongside other school programs as part of the bond proposal.
Yet no one has asked whether a change of location would meet our clinical, operational, or youth-centered needs.
Our building is not simply office space. Its home-like appearance and welcoming environment are intentional. They are part of our identity and help young people feel comfortable seeking our support.
Relocating BYS is not as simple as assigning us space in another building. We have serious questions about ownership, financial responsibility, accessibility, privacy, and whether a new location could preserve what makes BYS effective helping our youth.
We cannot agree to a relocation plan we have not seen, had an opportunity to evaluate, or provide feedback about its practicality.
We have shared our concerns directly with Bainbridge High School Principal Dan Novick, Bainbridge Island School District Superintendent Amii Thompson, and BISD President Saint Clair. What is especially troubling is how quickly both these issues are moving forward while the families and young people affected remain largely uninformed and have not been invited to provide input.
We respectfully ask the School Board to restore student access to mental-health services during the school day and for BYS to have a meaningful role in any discussion about how to make this happen.
We also ask the School Board to ensure transparency, meaningful consultation with BYS, and a clear explanation of the district’s decisions before moving forward with our proposed relocation.
These decisions affect far more than buildings and attendance procedures. They affect whether young people can access mental health support when they need it.
Sincerely,
Bainbridge Youth Services
