Jan 30, 2024 By Karen Mansfield 3 min read

MetroCreative

The Pennsylvania School Boards Association’s State of Education report shows student mental health concerns are one of the biggest challenges facing school districts, with 71% of districts surveyed for the 2023 report saying student mental health is one of their top two challenges.

A proposal that recently cleared the House Education Committee would consider mental health days as excused absences for Pennsylvania students.

If passed, House Bill 1519 grants students up to three mental health days per year under the umbrella of excused absences under the state’s truancy codes.

The number of students reporting poor mental health is increasing.

For the past three years, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association’s State of Education report showed student mental health concerns are one of the biggest challenges facing school districts, with 71% of districts surveyed for the 2023 report saying student mental health is one of their top two challenges.

The bill was introduced by Rep. Napoleon Nelson of Montgomery County.

In a memo to the House, Nelson said that challenges, specifically those exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, make the legislation necessary.

“Few challenges are as urgent or pressing as the lasting impact of stress and emotional duress on our students,” he wrote in his memo. “According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the pandemic negatively affected the mental health of many children and youth, creating even more public awareness of this pre-existing problem.”

According to the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 4 in 10 students (42%) felt persistently sad or hopeless, and nearly one-third expressed poor mental health. More than 1 in 5 students (22%) seriously considered attempting suicide, and 1 in 10 students attempted suicide.

Following the report, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy issued an advisory declaring a mental health crisis for American children.

If the bill passes, Pennsylvania will join 12 other states that have passed legislation that allows kids to take off for mental health reasons (Washington, California, Illionios, Virginia, Maine, Connecticut, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Kentucky, Arizona, and Colorado). A handful of other states are considering following suit.

A November poll conducted by the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) found a bipartisan majority of Americans (86%) agreed that elected officials need to do more to improve mental health care in the United States.

“It is time that mental health supports are normalized in schools, allowing for schools to better understand how they can help students who take absences,” Nelson wrote.

The finalized 2023-24 budget signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro last month includes $100 million for school-based mental health resources for students, such as student counseling services and training and compensation for mental health staff including counselors, social workers and psychologists.