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--- version:As Introduced+++ version:(document, no version)@@ -1,481 +1,83 @@- S.B. 314+Committee Action:+ Do Pass __________+ Amend & Do Pass __________+ Other __________-- *SB314*+Senate Committee on Education+This measure may be considered for action during today’s work session.+SENATE BILL 314+Revises provisions relating to mental health education in schools.+(BDR 34-1068)+Sponsored By: Senator Lange+Date Heard: March 24, 2025+Fiscal Notes: Effect on Local Government: May Have Fiscal Impact.+ Effect on the State: Yes.+Senate Bill 314 requires the Council to Establish Academic Standards for Public Schools to+develop standards for mental health education. The standards must correspond with the+social and emotional learning standards developed by Nevada’s Department of Education+(NDE) and include information concerning mental health and its promotion, provide+culturally and age-appropriate mental health resources to pupils, and require the use of+evidence-based mental health curriculum.+The bill requires the Commission on Professional Standards in Education to adopt+regulations relating to mental health education and training requirements for licensed+teachers. It also requires certain licensed teachers to complete a course in mental health+education before applying for licensure renewal on or after July 1, 2027.+Lastly, each school district and governing body of each charter school must provide, or+through an agreement with a certain entity, professional development training that satisfies+the mental health education requirement.+Amendments:+Senator Lange proposed the following amendments (attached):+1. Remove Section 2 concerning mental health education course requirements for+licensure and instead require public school teachers to complete an approved mental+health education course. Additionally, NDE must adopt regulations prescribing the+course content. The course may be provided by a college or university or a school+district or regional professional development program at no cost to the employee.+Returning teachers must complete the course by July 1, 2027, and new teachers+employed starting in the School Year 2026–2027 must complete the course within+the first year of employment. Additionally, public schools must keep employee+records of course completion and allow NDE to audit course completion records.+2. Remove language in subsection 1(a)(3) of Section 3 regarding the requirement of an+applicant for a teaching license to complete a mental health education course prior to+the issuance of the license.+Special Note:+The following fiscal notes for this bill are available on the Nevada Electronic Legislative+Information System website:+• NDE+;+• Nevada System of Higher Education;+• State Public Charter School Authority; and+• School districts.+NDE Conceptual Amendment to SB314-SENATE BILL NO. 314–SENATOR LANGE+SB314 revises provisions relating to mental health education in schools.+Remove: Language referring to educator licensure in Nevada+Rationale: Keeping this language in the bill has the potential of being a barrier to+bringing educators into Nevada from other states and countries and retention of+current educators. Instead place the required training with the employer and+incorporate as part of the regular professional development training.+Remove: The number of hours a teacher must have in mental health training.+Rationale: Allow the Department of Education to adopt regulations that will+delineate the number of hours and content of the course of study.+Section 2+Remove current section 2 and replace with:+Each teacher who works in a public school must complete a course of study in mental health education+that is approved by the Department.+a. The Department shall adopt regulations prescribing the content of the required course in+mental health which must be complete pursuant to this section.+b. The course of study can be offered by:+1. a college or university; or+2. a school district or a Regional Professional Development Program at no cost to the+employee.+c. Course completion+1. Returning teachers must have the approved course completed by July 1, 2027.+2. New teachers employed starting with the 2026/2027 school year and each school year+after, must have the approved course completed within the first year of employment.+d. Public schools shall keep accurate records of employee course completion.+e. The Department may audit the completion of the required course with records kept by+public schools.-MARCH 10, 2025-____________--Referred to Committee on Education--SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to mental health-education in schools. (BDR 34-1068)--FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: May have Fiscal Impact.- Effect on the State: Yes.--~--EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.--AN ACT relating to education; requiring certain standards of-content and performance for courses in health to-correspond with certain social and emotional learning-standards developed by the Department of Education and-to include certain information relating to mental health ;-requiring the Commission on Professional Standards in-Education to adopt regulations requiring the completion-of a course in mental health education to obtain a license-to teach; requiring certain applicants for the renewal of a-license to teach to compl ete either a certain number of-credits in a course in mental health education or a certain-number of hours of professional development in mental-health education; requiring school districts and charter-schools to partner with certain entities to provide-professional development training in mental health-education; requiring certain professional development-training for teachers and administrators to include training-on mental health education and social and emotional-learning; and providing other matters pr operly relating-thereto.-Legislative Counsel’s Digest:- Existing law requires the Council to Establish Academic Standards for Public 1-Schools to establish standards of content and performance for courses of study in 2-various subject areas, including health. Existing law further requires that such 3-standards established for courses in health include mental health and the 4-relationship between mental and physical health. (NRS 389.520) Section 1 of this 5-bill requires the standards developed for mental health education to: (1) correspond 6-- – 2 –--- *SB314*-with any social and emotional learning standards that are developed by the 7-Department of Education; (2) include, without limitation, the provision of 8-information concerning mental health, the promotion of mental health and 9-culturally appropriate and age -appropriate mental health resources, as defined in 10-section 1, to pupils; and (3) require the use of evidence -based mental health 11-curriculum. 12- Existing law requires the Commission on Professional Standards in Education 13-to adopt regulations for licensing teachers and other educational personnel and 14-procedures for the issuance and renewal of such licenses. (NRS 391.019) Section 3 15-of this bill requires the regulations to include a requirement that an applicant for a 16-license to teach complete a course in mental health education before receiving the 17-license. 18- Existing law imposes certain additional requirements for applicants seeking the 19-renewal of a license to teach, including the provision of information certifying that 20-the applicant has completed a course in multicultural education. (NRS 391.034, 21-391.0345, 391.0347) Section 2 of this bill requires a teacher who is initially 22-licensed on or before July 1, 2027, to submit with the first application for renew al 23-on or after July 1, 2027, proof of the completion of a course in mental health 24-education. Section 2 also requires the Commission to adopt regulations tha t: (1) 25-prescribe the required contents of such a course; (2) require a licensed teacher 26-seeking renewal of a license to teach to complete at least two credits of such a 27-course or at least 30 hours of relevant professional development training; (3) 28-establish the process by which the Commission approves certain providers of such 29-professional development; and (4) allow such credits or hours to be used to satisfy 30-any existing requirements for professional development, in -service training or 31-continuing education otherwise imposed by the Commission by regulation. Section 32-4 of this bill requires school districts and charter schools to provide such 33-professional develop ment training in mental health education by partnering with 34-certain entities. Section 4 additionally requires school districts and charter schools 35-to partner with the Nevada System of Higher Education and other school districts to 36-provide such professional development training in rural areas and online. 37- Existing law requires the board of trustees of each school district and the 38-governing body of each charter school to ensure that teachers have access to high -39-quality, ongoing professional development training. (NRS 391A.370) Section 6 of 40-this bill requires that su ch professional development training include training on 41-mental health education and encompass any social and emotional learning 42-standards developed by the Department. 43--THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN-SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:-- Section 1. NRS 389.520 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1- 389.520 1. The Council shall: 2- (a) Establish standards of content and performance, including, 3-without limitation, a prescription of the resulting level of 4-achievement, for the grade levels set forth in subsection 5, based 5-upon the content of each course, that is expected of pupils for t he 6-following courses of study: 7- (1) English language arts; 8- (2) Mathematics; 9- (3) Science; 10-- – 3 –--- *SB314*- (4) Social studies, which includes only the subjects of 1-history, geography, economics, civics, financial literacy and 2-multicultural education; 3- (5) The arts; 4- (6) Computer education and technology, which includes 5-computer science and computational thinking; 6- (7) Health; 7- (8) Physical education; and 8- (9) A foreign or world language. 9- (b) Establish a schedule for the periodic review and, if 10-necessary, revision of the standards of content and performance. The 11-review must include, without limitation, the review required 12-pursuant to NRS 390.115 of the results of pupils on the 13-examinations administered pursuant to NRS 390.105. 14- (c) Assign priorities to the standards of content and performance 15-relative to importance and degree of emphasis and revise the 16-standards, if necessary, based upon the priorities. 17- 2. The standards for computer education and technology must 18-include a policy for the ethical, safe and secure u se of computers 19-and other electronic devices. The policy must include, without 20-limitation: 21- (a) The ethical use of computers and other electronic devices, 22-including, without limitation: 23- (1) Rules of conduct for the acceptable use of the Internet 24-and other electronic devices; and 25- (2) Methods to ensure the prevention of: 26- (I) Cyber-bullying; 27- (II) Plagiarism; and 28- (III) The theft of information or data in an electronic 29-form; 30- (b) The safe use of computers and other electronic devices, 31-including, without limitation, methods to: 32- (1) Avoid cyber -bullying and other unwanted electronic 33-communication, including, without limitation, communication with 34-on-line predators; 35- (2) Recognize when an on -line electronic communication is 36-dangerous or potentially dangerous; and 37- (3) Report a dangerous or potentially dangerous on -line 38-electronic communication to the appropriate school personnel; 39- (c) The secure use of computers and other electronic devices, 40-including, without limitation: 41- (1) Methods to maintain the security of personal identifying 42-information and financial information, including, without limitation, 43-identifying unsolicited electronic communication which is sent for 44-- – 4 –--- *SB314*-the purpose of obtaining such personal and financial information for 1-an unlawful purpose; 2- (2) The necessity for secure passwords or other unique 3-identifiers; 4- (3) The effects of a computer contaminant; 5- (4) Methods to identify unsolicited commercial material; and 6- (5) The dangers associated with social networking Internet 7-sites; and 8- (d) A designation of the level of detail of instruction as 9-appropriate for the grade level of pupils who receive the instruction. 10- 3. The standards for social studies must include multicultural 11-education, including, without limitation, information rel ating to 12-contributions made by men and women from various racial and 13-ethnic backgrounds. The Council shall consult with members of the 14-community who represent the racial and ethnic diversity of this 15-State in developing such standards. 16- 4. The standards for health must include mental health 17-education and the relationship between mental health and physical 18-health. The standards for mental health education must: 19- (a) Correspond with any social and emotional learning 20-standards developed by the Department; 21- (b) Include, without limitation, the provision of information 22-concerning mental health, the promotion of mental health and 23-culturally appropriate and age -appropriate mental health 24-resources to pupils; and 25- (c) Require the use of evidence -based mental health 26-curriculum. 27- 5. The Council shall establish standards of content and 28-performance for each grade level in kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, 29-inclusive, for English language arts and mathematics. The Council 30-shall establish standards of con tent and performance for the grade 31-levels selected by the Council for the other courses of study 32-prescribed in subsection 1. 33- 6. The Council shall forward to the State Board the standards 34-of content and performance established by the Council for each 35-course of study. The State Board shall: 36- (a) Adopt the standards for each course of study, as submitted 37-by the Council; or 38- (b) If the State Board objects to the standards for a course of 39-study or a particular grade level for a course of study, return thos e 40-standards to the Council with a written explanation setting forth the 41-reason for the objection. 42- 7. If the State Board returns to the Council the standards of 43-content and performance for a course of study or a grade level, the 44-Council shall: 45-- – 5 –--- *SB314*- (a) Consider the objection provided by the State Board and 1-determine whether to revise the standards based upon the objection; 2-and 3- (b) Return the standards or the revised standards, as applicable, 4-to the State Board. 5- The State Board shall adopt the standards of c ontent and 6-performance or the revised standards, as applicable. 7- 8. The Council shall work in cooperation with the State Board 8-to prescribe the examinations required by NRS 390.105. 9- 9. As used in this section: 10- (a) “Computer contaminant” has the meaning ascribed to it in 11-NRS 205.4737. 12- (b) “Cyber-bullying” has the meaning ascribed to it in 13-NRS 388.123. 14- (c) “Electronic communication” has the meaning ascribed to it 15-in NRS 388.124. 16- (d) “Mental health resources” means information a pupil may 17-use to address a mental health concern, including, without 18-limitation, information: 19- (1) That a pupil may use to seek help for mental health 20-treatment; 21- (2) Relating to the services of mental health workers, 22-counselors, psychologists or community -based medical or 23-behavioral providers of health care , which are provided by the 24-board of trustees of a school district or the governing body of a 25-charter school; and 26- (3) Relating to suicide awareness and prevention. 27- Sec. 2. Chapter 391 of NRS is hereby amended by adding 28-thereto a new section to read as follows: 29- 1. Any licensed teacher who is initially licensed on or before 30-July 1, 2027, except for a teacher who is licensed only as a 31-substitute teacher, must submit with his or her first application for 32-renewal of his or her license to teach on or after July 1, 2027, 33-proof of the completion of a course in mental health education. If 34-the licensed teacher is initially issued a nonrenewable license, he 35-or she must submit such proof with his or her first application for 36-a renewable license to teach. 37- 2. The Commission shall adopt regulations that: 38- (a) Prescribe the required contents of a course in mental 39-health education which must be completed pursuant to this 40-section; 41- (b) Require, to satisfy the requirements of subsection 1: 42- (1) At least two credits to be earned by a licensed teacher in 43-a course in mental health education; or 44-- – 6 –--- *SB314*- (2) The successful completion of at least 30 hours of 1-professional development in mental health education; 2- (c) Establish the process for the approval by the Commission 3-of providers of courses or professional development in mental 4-health education, which must include, without limitation, one or 5-more school districts, regional training programs for the 6-professional development of teachers and administrators and 7-institutions of higher education; 8- (d) Allow the credits in a course of mental health education or 9-hours of professional development in mental health education 10-required to be completed to satisfy the requi rements of subsection 11-1 to be counted toward any requirements otherwise imposed by the 12-Commission by regulation to renew a license, including, without 13-limitation, requirements to complete professional development, in -14-service training or continuing education; and 15- (e) As otherwise necessary to carry out the requirements of this 16-section. 17- Sec. 3. NRS 391.019 is hereby amended to read as follows: 18- 391.019 1. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 391.027, 19-the Commission shall adopt regulations: 20- (a) Prescribing the qualifications for licensing teachers and other 21-educational personnel and the procedures for the issuance and 22-renewal of those licenses. The regulations: 23- (1) Must include, without limitation, the qualifications for 24-licensing teachers and administrators pursuant to an alternative route 25-to licensure which provides that the required education and training 26-may be provided by any qualified provider which has been approved 27-by the Commission, including, without limitation, institutions of 28-higher education and other providers that operate independently of 29-an institution of higher education. The regulations adopted pursuant 30-to this subparagraph must: 31- (I) Establish the requirements for approval as a qualified 32-provider; 33- (II) Require a qualified provider to be selective in its 34-acceptance of students; 35- (III) Require a qualified provider to provide in -person or 36-virtual supervised, school -based experiences and ongoing support 37-for its students, such as mentoring and coaching; 38- (IV) Significantly limit the amount of course work 39-required or provide for the waiver of required course work for 40-students who achieve certain scores on tests; 41- (V) Allow for the completion in 2 years or less of the 42-education and training required und er the alternative route to 43-licensure; 44-- – 7 –--- *SB314*- (VI) Provide that a person who has completed the 1-education and training required under the alternative route to 2-licensure and who has satisfied all other requirements for licensure 3-may apply for a regular license p ursuant to sub -subparagraph (VII) 4-regardless of whether the person has received an offer of 5-employment from a school district, charter school or private school; 6-and 7- (VII) Upon the completion by a person of the education 8-and training required under the alternative route to licensure and the 9-satisfaction of all other requirements for licensure, provide for the 10-issuance of a regular license to the person pursuant to the provisions 11-of this chapter and the regulations adopted pursuant to this chapter. 12- (2) Must require an applicant for a license to teach middle 13-school or junior high school education or secondary education to 14-demonstrate proficiency in a field of specialization or area of 15-concentration by successfully completing course work prescribed by 16-the D epartment or completing a subject matter competency 17-examination prescribed by the Department with a score deemed 18-satisfactory. 19- (3) Must require an applicant for a license to teach in this 20-State to complete a course in mental health education pursuant to 21-section 2 of this act before the issuance of such a license. 22- (4) Must not prescribe qualifications which are more 23-stringent than the qualifications set forth in NRS 391.0315 for a 24-licensed teacher who applies for an additional license in accordance 25-with that section. 26- (b) Identifying fields of specialization in teaching which require 27-the specialized training of teachers. 28- (c) Except as otherwise provided in NRS 391.125, requiring 29-teachers to obtain from the Department an endorsement in a field of 30-specialization to be eligible to teach in that field of specialization. 31- (d) Setting forth the educational requirements a teacher must 32-satisfy to qualify for an endorsement in each field of specialization. 33- (e) Setting forth the qualifications and requirements f or 34-obtaining a license or endorsement to teach American Sign 35-Language, including, without limitation, being registered with the 36-Aging and Disability Services Division of the Department of Health 37-and Human Services pursuant to NRS 656A.100 to engage in the 38-practice of sign language interpreting in a primary or secondary 39-educational setting. 40- (f) Requiring teachers and other educational personnel to be 41-registered with the Aging and Disability Services Division pursuant 42-to NRS 656A.100 to engage in the practic e of sign language 43-interpreting in a primary or secondary educational setting if they: 44- (1) Provide instruction or other educational services; and 45-- – 8 –--- *SB314*- (2) Concurrently engage in the practice of sign language 1-interpreting, as defined in NRS 656A.060. 2- (g) Prescribing course work on parental involvement and family 3-engagement. The Commission shall: 4- (1) Work in cooperation with the Office of Parental 5-Involvement and Family Engagement created by NRS 385.630 in 6-developing the regulations required by this paragraph. 7- (2) Establish standards for professional development training 8-which may be used to satisfy any course work requirement 9-prescribed pursuant to this paragraph. 10- (h) Establishing the requirements for obtaining an endorsement 11-on the license of a teacher, administrator or other educational 12-personnel in cultural competency. 13- (i) Authorizing the Superintendent of Public Instruction to issue 14-a license by endorsement to an applicant who holds an equivalent 15-license or authorization issued by a governmen tal entity in another 16-country if the Superintendent determines that the qualifications for 17-the equivalent license or authorization are substantially similar to 18-those prescribed pursuant to paragraph (a). 19- (j) Establishing the requirements for obtaining an endorsement 20-on the license of a teacher, administrator or other educational 21-personnel in teaching courses relating to financial literacy. 22- (k) Authorizing a person who is employed as a paraprofessional 23-and enrolled in a program to become a teacher to compl ete an 24-accelerated program of student teaching in the same or a 25-substantially similar area in which the person is employed as a 26-paraprofessional while remaining employed as a paraprofessional. 27- (l) Requiring the Department to accept a program of student 28-teaching or other teaching experience completed in another state or 29-foreign country by an applicant for a license if the Department 30-determines that the program or experience substantially fulfills the 31-standards of a program of student teaching in this State. 32- (m) Authorizing a person who is employed by a public school to 33-provide support or other services relating to school psychology, if 34-the person does not hold a license or endorsement as a school 35-psychologist but is enrolled in a program that would allow th e 36-person to obtain such a license or endorsement, to complete a 37-program of internship in school psychology while remaining 38-employed in such a position. 39- (n) To carry out the provisions of NRS 391B.010. 40- 2. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 391.027, the 41-Commission may adopt such other regulations as it deems necessary 42-for its own government or to carry out its duties. 43- 3. Any regulation which increases the amount of education, 44-training or experience required for licensing: 45-- – 9 –--- *SB314*- (a) Must, in addition to the r equirements for publication in 1-chapter 233B of NRS, be publicized before its adoption in a manner 2-reasonably calculated to inform those persons affected by the 3-change. 4- (b) Must not become effective until at least 1 year after the date 5-it is adopted by the Commission. 6- (c) Is not applicable to a license in effect on the date the 7-regulation becomes effective. 8- Sec. 4. Chapter 391A of NRS is hereby amended by adding 9-thereto a new section to read as follows: 10- 1. Each school district and the governing body of each 11-charter school shall provide professional development training 12-regarding mental health education that satisfies the requirements 13-of section 2 of this act to teachers. Such professional development 14-training may be provided by the school district or governing body 15-or through an agreement with an institution of higher education 16-or a regional training program for the professional development 17-of teachers and administrators. 18- 2. Each school district and ch arter school shall, as 19-applicable, enter into agreements with the Nevada System of 20-Higher Education and other school districts and charter schools to 21-provide such professional development training online and to 22-public schools located in rural areas. 23- Sec. 5. NRS 391A.345 is hereby amended to read as follows: 24- 391A.345 As used in NRS 391A.345 to 391A.385, inclusive, 25-and section 4 of this act, unless the context otherwise requires, 26-“professional development training” has the m eaning ascribed to 27-“professional development” in 20 U.S.C. § 7801(42). 28- Sec. 6. NRS 391A.370 is hereby amended to read as follows: 29- 391A.370 1. The State Board shall adopt regulations 30-prescribing standards for the professi onal development training 31-provided to teachers and administrators employed by a school 32-district or charter school. 33- 2. The board of trustees of each school district and the 34-governing body of each charter school shall ensure that the teachers 35-and administrators employed by the school district or charter school 36-have access to high -quality, ongoing professional development 37-training. The professional development training must meet the 38-standards prescribed by the State Board pursuant to subsection 1 and 39-include, without limitation, training concerning: 40- (a) The academic standards adopted by the State Board, 41-including, without limitation, the academic standards for science. 42- (b) The academic standards and curriculum in English language 43-development and literacy. 44-- – 10 –--- *SB314*- (c) The curriculum and instruction required for courses of study 1-in: 2- (1) Science, technology, engineering and mathematics, 3-including, without limitation and to the extent applicable, computer 4-science and computer education and technology. 5- (2) English language development and literacy. 6- (d) The cultural competency required to meet the social, 7-emotional and academic needs of certain categories of pupils 8-enrolled in the school, including, without limitation, pupils who are 9-at risk, pupils who are English learners, pupils with disabilities and 10-gifted and talented pupils. 11- (e) Mental health education, including, without limitation, any 12-social and emotional learning standards developed by the 13-Department. 14- 3. Professional development training concerning the 15-curriculum and instruction required for courses of study in computer 16-science and computer education and technology may be provided by 17-the school district or governing body or through an agreement with 18-an institution of higher education, a regional training program for 19-the professional development of teachers and administrators or the 20-Department. If the professional development training is provided 21-through an agreement with the Department, the professional 22-development training may include content contributed by a third 23-party if the content is approved by the Department for the purpose 24-of professional development training. 25- Sec. 7. 1. This section becomes effective upon passage and 26-approval. 27- 2. Section 1 of this act becomes effective on July 1, 2026. 28- 3. Sections 2 to 6, inclusive, of this act become effective: 29- (a) Upon passage and approval for the purpose of adopting any 30-regulations and performing any other preparatory administrativ e 31-tasks that are necessary to carry out the provisions of this act; and 32- (b) On July 1, 2027, for all other purposes. 33--H+Remove Section 3 (a) (3):+3) Must require an applicant for a license to teach in this State to complete a+course in mental health education pursuant to section 2 of this act before the+issuance of such a license.+Contact: Mary Pierczynski,
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