California parents outraged by school district's $189K meditation deal
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (KRON) — Parents of students at Mountain View Whisman School District in Mountain View, California, are frustrated after finding out the district signed a $189,000 school-approved contract for what they describe as 160 “guided meditation sessions for district leadership team members.”
The MVWSD signed an agreement with Alycia Diggs Chaves, owner of Blue Violet Energy and a self-described “energy healer.” Her practice averages about $1,200 per meditation session.
According to the agreement, initially reported by the Chronicle, Chaves’ services are designed to “help leaders manage and reduce daily stress levels that negatively impact their well-being and, therefore, their effectiveness in their role.”
Despite previously working with Chaves, school district leaders said they had never looked at Chaves’ Blue Violet Energy website prior to hiring and signing the agreement with the spiritual healer.
Parents expressed their concerns over the agreement and the lack of research done prior to signing it.
“I mean, normally, when someone is hired, especially for the volume of business that she’s doing, people check the website… Trying to insist that no mistakes were made given the situation, that's just burning credibility,” said Chris Perry, a school board district parent.
“How in the world is it reasonable to spend more than $1,100 per hour on meditation sessions?” asked Mohan Garunathen, a school board district member. “I wanna ask you: Would you spend that much of your own money on meditation? If not, how can you possibly think it’s okay to spend our taxpayer money that way?”
Superintendent Dr. Ayindé Rudolph says the meditation sessions were first started several years ago by an in-house doctor.
“It really feels like we as taxpaying parents are just really being asked to spend more money than frankly I can afford," said parent Erica Relich at Thursday's meeting. "I’m just frustrated."
KRON4 has reached out to MVWSD and Chaves for a statement and has not heard back as of the publication of this report.