SB 8-STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRES AND SURVEYS    8:38:35 AM CO-CHAIR THOMAS announced the consideration of SB 8. 8:39:02 AM THOMAS OBERMEYER, Staff to Senator Bettye Davis, sponsor of SB 8, read the following sponsor statement: The purpose of this bill is to increase participation in the national biennial Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) in order to meet the minimum 60 percent participation required by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for the survey to be validated for assessment, recording and reporting of reliable results. Alaska has periodically failed to meet minimum participation levels. This anonymous survey will next be administered in Alaska School Districts in Spring 2011 and 2013. This survey is enormously valuable to all aspects of society dealing with our youth. Failure to obtain usable information adversely affects education and funding of many services. To help achieve this objective this bill will change the parental consent requirement for the YRBS from active to passive, that is, from written to implied consent if the parent does not object or deny permission in writing for the student to participate in the survey. To alleviate increased concerns about protecting the right to privacy the bill provides lengthy and detailed new notice requirements which will be sent to parents at least two weeks in advance of the survey. There will be ample time and opportunity for parents to review the survey with instructions on how to opt out. Students may also independently decline to participate or to answer specific questions in this completely voluntary and anonymous survey. Absolute privacy and anonymity are maintained by strict administrative procedures and return of surveys to CDC. Written permission is still required to be obtained from the student's parent or legal guardian for all other surveys, anonymous or not that inquire into personal or private family affairs of the student and are not a matter of public record or subject to public observation. Although research and experience suggest that the vast majority of parents would consent to their students participating in this survey, failure of parents to return written consent forms has been found more often to be the result of lack of interest or attention, rather than refusal. Consequently, results from whole schools periodically must be disregarded when not enough parental consent forms are returned. Without facts and population-based information on youth risk behavior parents, students, educators, planners, and policy makers cannot understand and address the important health and social issues that affect students' happiness and success in the future. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey helps guide and evaluate important health and prevention programs in both the public and private sectors. Local, state and federal officials, schools, state and federal agencies, public and private grant programs and nonprofit health organizations rely on these survey to educate, allocate resources, and compare trends concerning safety behaviors, injury prevention, tobacco prevention and control, obesity prevention, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, safe and drug free schools, substance abuse prevention, violence and suicide prevention, HIV, STD prevention, and connectedness to teachers, parents and other adults. SB 8 simply makes it easier to obtain information on youth risk behaviors, while increasing procedures to assure privacy, parental notice, and supervision. MR. OBERMEYER continued by reading the sectional analysis of SB 8: Section 1. Adds an exception for the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) to the written permission requirement for student surveys. Section 2. Provides detailed written notice requirements for all student surveys, including YRBS. Section 3. Adds specific questions and process for a student and parent to refuse to participate in a student survey by submitting a written denial of permission. Section 4. Provides an exception to written permission for YRBS and a minimum two week notice provision that is consistent with the requirements in sec. 2. MR. OBERMEYER said Section 2 was repealed and reenacted to include many more survey notice requirements to parents that are not in AS 14.03.110. Section 3 allowed students to not only refuse to participate in the survey but allowed them not to answer specific questions in the survey. Section 4 included a provision of two weeks' notice for parents to respond and write a denial of permission letter to take the survey. 8:45:16 AM SENATOR STEVENS asked what funding or services would be affected if students do not take these surveys. MR. OBERMEYER answered that, to his understanding, for agencies that deal with youth part of the funding comes from engaging youth successfully, which is often in response to the findings of this survey. These agencies help children avoid problems or assist those that are already engaged in problems now. CO-CHAIR MEYER said this is not a new issue and is a very sensitive topic to many parents. He asked him to describe how the survey process currently works. MR. OBERMEYER replied that there are probably five or six questions on the survey that could be construed as offensive or very personnel, typically pertaining to sexual activity. He explained that this bill is not trying to hide any aspect of the survey itself. Currently, in order to address this issue the bill states that a student may choose whether they answer a question or take the survey. He reminded the committee that parents can still write a denial of permission to the school that will not allow their child to participate. He explained that, in his understanding, throughout the United States the comparisons of the survey answers are enormously useful. He said that not all school districts are necessarily involved and only a 60 percent participation rate is necessary. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) will throw out the survey information from Alaska if it does not get a 60 percent feedback rate. This means that Alaska would not have any background information for two years, until the survey is administered again. He said to remedy the problem of notice to parents in regards to this survey, section 2, on page 1 and 2, includes the following: (1) the date the questionnaire or survey is to be administered; (2) a description of the content of the questionnaire or survey; (3) the sponsor of the questionnaire or survey; (4) the name of a person at the school district who may be contacted regarding the survey; (5) notice of the opportunity to review the questionnaire or survey; (6) a description of the manner in which the questionnaire or survey will be administered to the student; (7) instructions for submitting written permission or denial of permission to participate in a questionnaire or survey, including an anonymous or specific questionnaire or survey; (8) notice of the opportunity for the student to refuse to answer specific questions… He explained that the bill is trying to make things as easy as possible so the survey can be successful. If the bill fails, the school districts will continue making every effort, as has been done in the past, to get parents to return the permission form. He reiterated that Alaska has periodically failed to make the 60 percent participation requirement. 8:53:35 AM CO-CHAIR MEYER said that this tells him that the administration and the school districts have not done a good job to inform parents or parents do not want their children participating in the survey. He asked if it would be easier for parents to simply check a box that allows their child to participate in a survey, rather than obligating parents to write a denial of permission. MR. OBERMEYER replied that the issue with this is school districts issue more than just the YRBS survey throughout the year. Right now, if the parents do not object to a survey being given to their child, the law states that any personal survey given to a student must include written permission. In the case of SB 8 only the YRBS would be administered to students unless a parent has written a denial of permission letter. He reminded the committee that school districts are obligated to give parents a two week notice that this particular survey will be administered and can give written denial of consent if they do not want their child to participate. He said that it is a great burden and expense for schools to get participation in this survey. He said that, to his knowledge, many parents would not prevent their child from participating in the survey, but they may have lost or been unaware of the required permission slip they needed to sign. 8:56:44 AM CO-CHAIR THOMAS announced he would hold SB 8 in committee.