Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS) are the Department of Education’s latest project. In 2023, the Biden administration set aside $150 million in grants to award school districts committed to this FSCS project.

Full-Service Community Schools partner with local organizations to fulfill the needs of economically disadvantaged students and families, such as food, clothing, mental health services, adult education, and childcare. Community schools are presented as the solution to chronic absenteeism and as a lifeline to families that struggle to find resources on their own. When community schools are presented in this manner, it is difficult to oppose them or find anything wrong with this concept.

While community schools may currently seem well-intentioned, it’s crucial to consider the potential risks they pose. The public school system, for instance, already allows for the separation of child and parent through policies that permit the withholding of information from parents. How might community schools perpetuate this separation?

If a child can have her basic needs met at school, the parent becomes obsolete. From teeth cleanings to vaccines to a referral to Planned Parenthood for birth control, a minor can receive this type of care at her local community school without parental consent if she meets the age requirement under the state’s mature minor doctrine. For most states, children 12 years of age are considered mature minors. In fact, most community school contracts state that no student will be turned away, which begs the question: Does the parental consent form a parent signs even matter?

Recently, a Kentucky mother went viral on social media after creating a TikTok video explaining how after her children saw a “school dentist,” she is now being asked to authorize further dental work requiring anesthesia, and she is not allowed to be present. She further states that because she did not consent to these procedures, the school is using previously signed consent forms to allow the school dentist to go through with the scheduled procedures. Furthermore, after this mother’s pushback, she has now been threatened with an investigation by the school district.

Minor children receiving healthcare services without parental consent is a real possibility under Full-Service Community Schools.

Those in support of community schools talk about the positive outcomes and improved academics, but the metrics used to measure the merits of these schools are either absent or unclear.

In 2018, the Office of Research and Education Accountability (OREA) in Tennessee was tasked with reporting on the performance of 17 community schools in the state. However, OREA was unable to provide an accurate report on the effectiveness of community schools due to the lack of clear evaluation frameworks, inconsistent data, and differing goals from each community school.

Parents must be actively present in their child’s education. Every form must be read, and every adult your child has access to must be vetted. Our public education system has radically changed, and not all adults within that system have good intentions with the children they have access to.