SB 24-PUBLIC SCHOOLS: MENTAL HEALTH EDUCATION  3:50:25 PM CHAIR WILSON reconvened the meeting and announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 24 "An Act relating to mental health education; and providing for an effective date." He noted that the committee heard the introduction and took invited and public testimony during the first hearing. He further noted that there was an amendment for the committee to consider. 3:50:55 PM At ease. 3:57:04 PM CHAIR WILSON reconvened the meeting and moved to adopt Amendment A.1 ("Amendment 1"), work order 33-LS0232\A.1. 33-LS0232\A.1 Wallace/Marx 4/3/23 AMENDMENT 1 OFFERED IN THE SENATE BY SENATOR WILSON Page 1, following line 9: Insert a new bill section to read:  "* Sec. 2. AS 14.03.016(a) is amended to read: (a) A local school board shall, in consultation with parents, teachers, and school administrators, adopt policies to promote the involvement of parents in the school district's education program. The policies must include procedures (1) recognizing the authority of a parent and allowing a parent to object to and withdraw the child from a standards-based assessment or test required by the state; (2) recognizing the authority of a parent and allowing a parent to object to and withdraw the child from an activity, class, or program; (3) providing for parent notification not less than two weeks before any activity, class, or program that includes content involving human reproduction, [OR] sexual matters, or mental health is provided to a child; (4) recognizing the authority of a parent and allowing a parent to withdraw the child from an activity, class, program, or standards-based assessment or test required by the state for a religious holiday, as defined by the parent; (5) providing a parent with an opportunity to review the content of an activity, class, performance standard, or program; (6) ensuring that, when a child is absent from an activity, class, program, or standards-based assessment or test required by the state under this section, the absence is not considered an unlawful absence under AS 14.30.020 if the child's parent withdrew the child from the activity, class, program, or standards-based assessment or test or gave permission for the child's absence." Renumber the following bill sections accordingly. Page 2, line 29: Delete "sec. 3" Insert "sec. 4" Page 3, line 4: Delete "sec. 3" Insert "sec. 4" 3:57:17 PM SENATOR KAUFMAN objected for purposes of discussion. 3:57:21 PM CHAIR WILSON explained that the amendment adds "mental health" to AS 14.03.016(a)(3), which is the education statute pertaining to parents' rights to notification and their child's education. He read paragraph (3) with the proposed addition. The subsequent bill sections are renumbered accordingly. CHAIR WILSON asked if there were questions or comments. 3:58:28 PM SENATOR DUNBAR asked if parent notification was already in statute. CHAIR WILSON answered that parental notification is in existing statute but it's not in the education statutes. His reason for adding mental health to this piece of statute is to help ensure that parents are aware and can be prepared for any reaction their child might have as a result of discussions about mental health situations. 3:59:43 PM SENATOR DUNBAR observed that mental health is a broader category than human reproduction and sexual matters, which are specifically mentioned in paragraph (3), and that other parts of the bill call for specific instruction in mental health. He asked the Chair if he envisioned that only specific courses would require notification or if it would be required for any lesson that touches on mental health. CHAIR WILSON responded that he wasn't sure that the bill had a definition for "mental health." CHAIR WILSON asked Sharon Fishel or Kelly Manning whether there was a definition in statute for "mental health." KELLY MANNING, Deputy Director, Innovation and Education Excellence, Department of Education and Early Development (DEED), Juneau, Alaska deferred the question to Ms. Fishel. SHARON FISHEL, Education Specialist II, Innovation and Excellence in Education, Department of Education and Early Development (DEED), Juneau, Alaska, stated that she would follow up with an answer. 4:01:54 PM CHAIR WILSON responded to Senator Dunbar's question with the explanation that mental health is used broadly and is intended to provide guidelines for instruction, similar to programs about domestic violence and sexual assault and Brie's Law for dating violence. Mental health is added to paragraph (3) to ensure that the department develops guidelines for programs relating to mental health and that parents receive notification about those programs. SENATOR DUNBAR asked whether Brie's Law had a parental notification component. CHAIR WILSON answered yes; it falls under domestic violence and sexual assault. 4:03:08 PM At ease. 4:04:05 PM CHAIR WILSON reconvened the meeting. 4:04:08 PM SENATOR DUNBAR wondered whether there was a way to narrow the amendment so the notification requirement is specific to the instructional units about mental health. He explained that he didn't want a teacher to be disciplined if a class discussion strayed into mental health matters. He cited the hypothetical example of a literature class discussing a poet who died by suicide and that topic is raised in the course of the class discussion. CHAIR WILSON articulated his intent to ensure that a parent or guardian is notified if a topic such as suicide is brought up in class so they're able to support their child if the need arises as a result of the class discussion. CHAIR WILSON asked Ms. Fishel if the parental notification requirement in the existing statute relating to programs or classes about human reproduction and sexual matters extended to discussions in other classes that touch on those topics. 4:06:48 PM MS. FISHEL reminded the committee that SB 24 is about developing guidelines for teachers to develop standards for programs about mental health and not a curriculum. She pointed out that teachers need to have some leeway to have conversations with students when topics relating to mental health and suicide come up organically in a classroom. CHAIR WILSON indicated that his question wasn't really answered. 4:07:50 PM SENATOR GIESSEL countered that Ms. Fishel's response did answer the question. She said Ms. Fishel used the example of suicide, but she was thinking about everyday situations such as a child who is distraught because of domestic violence in their family or their best friend's family and they bring that up in a classroom. The teacher or a counselor in that situation has to help those students process, and that is mental health. She commented that it was odd to add mental health to the subjects that require two weeks advance notice because it would tie teachers' hands and prevent them from addressing everyday topics or conversations that might arise in any given school day. 4:09:45 PM CHAIR WILSON said he was willing to rework the amendment and address mental health in a separate curriculum. 4:09:55 PM SENATOR GRAY-JACKSON suggested the committee consider removing the word "activity." CHAIR WILSON opined that removing the word "activity" would affect the other items in the paragraph. SENATOR KAUFMAN commented that it would be worthwhile to take the time to make it right. 4:10:53 PM CHAIR WILSON withdrew Amendment 1, work order 33-LS0232\A.1, and committed to work with the sponsor. 4:11:02 PM SENATOR GRAY-JACKSON requested permission for the committee to hear DEED's reasoning and explanation for the large fiscal note. When the bill was introduced in the previous legislature, the fiscal note was $71 thousand; this year the fiscal note had increased to $256 thousand. She questioned the reason for increasing the size of the committee from 20 to 30 members CHAIR WILSON agreed to hear the explanation. 4:12:45 PM KELLY MANNING, Deputy Director, Innovation and Education Excellence, Department of Education and Early Development (DEED), Juneau, Alaska, stated that the department met with the sponsor and then met separately to consider how to reduce the fiscal note. The conclusion was that the fiscal note is reflective of the current cost of the work. She recounted the following factors that DEED evaluated: • The size of the committee increased from 20 to 30 members because DEED determined that was appropriate for the type of work that SB 24 considers. It will include subject matter experts in mental health as well as district representatives throughout the state to reflect different size and geographic locations. • The work requires a facilitator who understands the national and Alaska landscape and is able to negotiate challenging conversations in groups that have different perspectives. • The fiscal note for SB 24 is higher than it was for the original bill because the cost for this work has increased significantly since COVID. • In the past DEED was able to attract educators with lower stipends, but higher stipends recognize the extra-duty work of educators as an important component of teacher engagement. CHAIR WILSON commented on the general increase in fiscal notes from last year to this year and stressed that Senate Finance was taking a hard look at the increases. 4:17:58 PM CHAIR WILSON held SB 24 in committee.