Hosts: Dr. Kay Lindley Guests: Dr. Kirk Milhoan, Dr. Katherine Welch, Dr. Rene Moon
Who’s really making health decisions for your child at school? From vaccine clinics to mental health interventions, school-based health centers are quietly bypassing parents in all 49 states. In this urgent back-to-school briefing, Dr. Kat Lindley, IMA Senior Fellow and Director of the International Fellowship Program, is joined by IMA senior fellows Dr. Kathrine Welch, Dr. Kirk Milhoan, and Dr. Renata Moon to break down the seven rights every parent must know.
They’ll explore the rapid expansion of School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs), now serving over 6 million students nationwide, and how state laws in places like California and Illinois are stripping parents of critical decision-making power. The doctors also share what they’re seeing in practice—from nutrition gaps to overmedication—and spotlight both promising federal reforms and troubling state-level trends.
It’s back-to-school season; but whatever nostalgia that phrase stirs, today’s classrooms are no longer what we remember. Our children are growing up in a radically different system—one where outside forces are increasingly stepping between parents and their kids.
What’s most alarming? These shifts often come disguised as help. Under the banner of access and equity, new school-based health policies are stripping away parental authority, bypassing consent, and delivering care without transparency. And the outcomes are showing: childhood mental illness, obesity, and chronic disease are all rising, with more than 1 in 5 teens now on a psychiatric medication, and record numbers of children experiencing anxiety, depression, and metabolic disorders.
To unpack what’s happening and how to fight back, four IMA doctors came together to expose a reality few parents fully understand: across the U.S., School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs) are quietly redrawing the boundaries of medical authority. From vaccines to mental health screenings, from prescriptions to referrals, these programs are weakening the doctor–parent–child relationship under the guise of convenience.
Their response? The launch of IMA’s new Parents’ Healthcare Bill of Rights—a 7-point framework for reclaiming medical decision-making from classrooms, clinics, and bureaucracies.
“We’re not just talking about vaccines,” said Dr. Lindley. “We’re talking about mental health, nutrition, informed consent, and the right to parent your child without the government stepping in.”
School-Based Health Centers: What Parents Aren’t Told
More than 6 million children across 49 states now have access to SBHCs: clinics embedded directly in schools, often operating with minimal parental oversight. While these centers were introduced under the banner of convenience and care access, they’ve rapidly evolved into a direct line between children and the healthcare system, often with parents left out of the loop.
“Most parents don’t realize that their child can be vaccinated or even prescribed psychiatric drugs at school without them ever knowing,” said Dr. Moon. “That’s happening right now.”
This isn’t a warning about a theoretical future, it’s a description of current state policy in places like California and Illinois. And as more funding flows into school-based health, the legal footing for parental consent continues to erode. The issue, said panelists, isn’t access—it’s accountability. Who decides what’s medically necessary, and who’s held responsible when things go wrong?
The Policy Landscape: State vs. Federal Forces
While federal guidance often supports transparency and parental engagement, state policies are moving in the opposite direction. In many cases, public health departments and school systems are interpreting laws broadly and offering treatments under the assumption that parents are either uninformed or unnecessary.
“State by state, we’re seeing legislation that chips away at the parent–child relationship in the name of access,” said Dr. Welch. “But access without accountability is not care—it’s control.”
The panel highlighted promising federal efforts, such as H.R. 255, which would reestablish basic consent and information standards, as well as broader reforms aimed at restoring medical rights eroded under emergency rulemaking. But they cautioned that the pushback must also come locally from school boards to statehouses.
The Clinical View: What Doctors Are Seeing
Each speaker brought clinical perspective to the conversation, offering a sobering view of what’s happening behind closed doors.
Dr. Milhoan pointed to an overreliance on medication for behavior and mood issues, especially in children with poor nutrition, limited outdoor activity, and excessive screen time. These factors, he warned, are too often ignored in favor of pharmaceutical fixes.
“We’re not addressing root causes. We’re medicating symptoms and calling it care,” he said. “That’s not medicine—it’s management.”
Dr. Moon and Dr. Welch added that children and teens are increasingly confused about what medical authority means, especially when school officials present services as private, confidential, and independent from their parents.
Panelists connected the dots to rising rates of youth anxiety, suicide ideation, and metabolic illness. The root problem, they said, isn’t simply bad policy. It’s the gradual uncoupling of care from relationships, data from consent, and treatment from trust.
Advocacy and Next Steps: What Parents Can Do
To push back, IMA has launched the Parents’ Healthcare Bill of Rights The document outlines seven rights every parent should know and assert—ranging from access to full medical records, to the right to informed consent, to the authority to protect their child from coercive care practices. It’s not just a policy statemen, it’s a tool for parents to use directly.
“We’re asking parents to reclaim their role—not just in the doctor’s office, but in the classroom and the lunchroom too,” said Dr. Lindley.
The discussion also tied into ongoing campaigns like Smart Moms Ask, which equips families to ask meaningful questions about COVID shots, school mandates, and pediatric vaccine policy. And for those concerned about gender ideology, the webinar connected with our previous episodes: The Medical Case Against Transitioning Minors.
The call to action is local, practical, and urgent: show up at school board meetings. Talk to your child’s teacher. Learn your state laws. Ask your pediatrician real questions and don’t accept vague answers.
Helping Shape the Parent-Child-Doctor Relationship
This moment calls for more than awareness, it demands action. As SBHCs expand and new school-year policies take hold, parents must know their rights and be ready to assert them.
The Parents’ Healthcare Bill of Rights isn’t about politics. It’s about restoring the parent–child–clinician relationship as the foundation of pediatric care. Read it. Share it. Bring it to your next school meeting or doctor’s visit.
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