The superintendent of Fayetteville-Manlius schools on Monday responded to calls for increased mental health resources after the death of a student over the weekend.

Superintendent Craig Tice said while the district already offers extensive mental health resources, he is open to parent and student input when it comes to making changes.

This came as students and parents in the district have criticized it, and Tice in particular, for what they say is insufficient mental health resources for students.

A change.org petition to expand resources in the district had more than 3,000 signatures by Monday afternoon.

“We will debrief this week on things that we can do differently, certainly highlighting the services we do offer, which are on our website,” Tice said.

Much of the criticism, however, centers around the district’s decision to opt-out of tiers 1 and 3 of the county’s mental health assistance program, announced last September by Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon as part of the county’s response to the pandemic.

Tier 2, which the district is participating in, is a liaison service that helps students and their families with mental health concerns get access to the services they need.

Tier 1 includes what are called student assistance specialists who are available to work directly with all students to determine their mental health needs, while tier 3 includes making a mental health professional available onsite so that students don’t have to travel.

At the time, the district cited space concerns as part of the reason for rejecting the onsite clinic. It also cited the cost of such a service to families, and the fact that any provider funded by the county would have a caseload and would not be available on a walk-in basis.

Tice insists the district has nearly equivalent services for both. He said tier 1 funding was declined, in part, because the school already had a similar system in place and they didn’t want to layoff counselors who already had relationships with students.

“We already had people certified in tier 1,” he said, “and we are working with Dr. Carmen in terms of those tier 3 services, and her offices are right in the Fayetteville-Manlius school district,” he said, referring to local mental health care provider Dr. Melissa Carman.

While the district said they can provide transportation, Carman does not have an office at any of the district’s buildings as the county plan would have provided.

Tice said he hears the community’s concerns and the district is open to making changes, including the potential for telehealth services that students can access onsite through their school counselor.

“I agree with everyone that you can always do more, whether it’s FM or any other district, there’s always more,” he said.

A vigil to honor the student’s life had been planned for Monday night, but was rescheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Fayetteville-Manlius High School.