Manhasset student senate raises mental‑health alarm; board discusses mandatory lunch, shortened periods and task force

A student delegate at the Dec. 15 Manhasset Board meeting urged attention to a growing mental‑health crisis among students, citing overloaded schedules, sleep deprivation and sustained homework that erode wellbeing.

Student Senate representative Catherine told the board many underclassmen are taking nine periods, sometimes without a lunch period, and described students who are sleep deprived, overwhelmed and skipping school because of stress. "People sacrifice their sleep and their mental health ... maybe even about their eating and family life," she said.

Board members praised the courage of the student speaker and proposed several next steps: a district survey on student mental health, a possible workshop or task force to examine schedule changes, exploring shortened periods to create a free period for downtime, and adding spaces for students during the day. Administrators said they will survey students and consider programmatic or staffing changes in the budget process.

The board emphasized the issue's prominence as it constructs the 2026–27 budget and asked the student senate to report back with proposals. No formal policy change or vote was taken at the meeting.