AL
Alabama Senate Bill SB40

Alabama 2022 Regular Session

Alabama Senate Bill SB40 Compare Versions

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11 1 SB40
2-2 216841-3
2+2 216258-1
33 3 By Senator Smitherman
44 4 RFD: Education Policy
55 5 First Read: 11-JAN-22
66
7-Page 0 1 SB40
7+Page 0 1 216258-1:n:01/10/2022:KMS/cr LSA2022-116
88 2
99 3
10-4 ENGROSSED
10+4
1111 5
1212 6
13-7 A BILL
14-8 TO BE ENTITLED
15-9 AN ACT
16-10
17-11 Relating to public K-12 education, to require the
18-12 State Department of Education to develop a program to address
19-13 the mental health of students who are considered at-risk for
20-14 developing inadequate social-behavioral skills, such as ADHD
21-15 or anger management issues, in the classroom; to require the
22-16 department to provide guidance for school districts in
23-17 establishing safe and supportive school frameworks to support
24-18 schools in fostering a positive and healthy learning
25-19 environment and improve student outcomes; to require the
26-20 department to provide support to school districts in adopting
27-21 supportive school frameworks and developing an action plan to
28-22 improve the learning, emotional, and socially appropriate
29-23 environment in schools throughout the district; to require
30-24 each local board of education in the state, subject to
31-25 appropriations by the Legislature, to employ a mental health
32-26 service coordinator; to provide for the qualifications and
33-27 duties of the mental health service coordinator; to require
34-Page 1 1 each local board of education to complete and submit a needs
35-2 assessment relating to the provision of mental health
36-3 resources to students; and to provide for the responsibilities
37-4 of the State Department of Education, the State Board of
38-5 Education, and the Alabama Department of Mental Health.
39-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
40-7 Section 1. The Legislature finds all of the
41-8 following:
42-9 (1) The State Department of Education and the public
43-10 K-12 schools of the state provide effective targeted intensive
44-11 intervention strategies for the population of high risk
45-12 students and proactive strategies that promote the mental
46-13 health of the general student population, with no specific
47-14 intervention strategies for students considered at-risk for
48-15 developing inadequate social-behavioral skills.
49-16 (2) There is a prevalence of students in public K-12
50-17 schools who lack age-appropriate social, emotional, and
51-18 behavioral skills including, but not limited to, students with
52-19 Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and
53-20 students who lack the ability to appropriately manage anger
54-21 and other emotions, often causing chronic disability and
55-22 disadvantage in children and directly interfering with the
56-23 intellectual, social, and emotionally appropriate development
57-24 of students.
58-25 (3) Students living in poverty are more likely to
59-26 have social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties.
60-Page 2 1 (4) Poverty increases the likelihood that children
61-2 will be exposed to multiple adverse childhood experiences such
62-3 as experiencing or witnessing violence, and children who have
63-4 had adverse childhood experiences are more likely to have
64-5 behavior problems.
65-6 (5) When teachers are unable to manage disruptive
66-7 behavior in the classroom, learning for all students is
67-8 diminished because teachers spend more instructional time on
68-9 behavior management.
69-10 (6) It is essential that students, teachers, and
70-11 school staff receive consistent and continuing instruction on
71-12 appropriate methods of addressing the root of perceived
72-13 disruptive behavior and the means of correcting those
73-14 behaviors in a manner that does not hinder the educational
74-15 progress of the student or the social, emotional, or
75-16 behavioral growth and development of the student.
76-17 (7) Outcomes for students who have inadequate or
77-18 inappropriate social, emotional, or behavioral skills may
78-19 include being retained in a grade, receiving services and
79-20 supports through Individual Education Plans or 504 Plans,
80-21 being suspended or expelled from school, or the development of
81-22 additional or worsening of social, emotional, or behavioral
82-23 issues or challenges, all of which are costly to families,
83-24 schools, and the larger community.
84-25 (8) Discipline policies that emphasize the
85-26 exclusionary practices of suspension or expulsion from the
86-27 classroom may negatively affect a student's academic success
87-Page 3 1 and behavioral health, increasing the likelihood of his or her
88-2 involvement in the criminal justice system, and decreasing the
89-3 student's likelihood of completing high school, which all come
90-4 with substantial social and economic costs.
91-5 (9) Discipline policies are among the factors that
92-6 set the school culture and climate for all students. Research
93-7 indicates that the implementation of alternative, restorative
94-8 disciplinary practices can positively affect school climate
95-9 and individual connectedness, thus affecting school quality,
96-10 especially among lower-performing schools.
97-11 (10) Teachers often lack the training and resources
98-12 needed to appropriately address, assist, and effectively teach
99-13 disruptive students who lack age-appropriate social,
100-14 emotional, and behavioral skills.
101-15 (11) There is evidence that providing teachers
102-16 training on positive classroom management strategies,
103-17 integrating a student's social and emotional skills training
104-18 into instruction, and providing mental health consultations,
105-19 healthy expression and processing emotions and conflict
106-20 resolution skills, increased healthy physical movement,
107-21 effective communication between students, teachers, and staff,
108-22 and independent and small group learning experiences, and
109-23 implementing policies emphasizing restorative approaches to
110-24 school discipline may reduce disruptive behaviors and improve
111-25 academic achievement.
112-26 Section 2. For the purposes of this act, the
113-27 following terms shall have the following meanings:
114-Page 4 1 (1) DEPARTMENT. The State Department of Education.
115-2 (2) SOCIAL-BEHAVIORAL OR SOCIAL- EMOTIONAL AT RISK
116-3 STUDENTS. That population of public K-12 students who are
117-4 considered at-risk for developing inadequate social-behavioral
118-5 skills, such as ADHD or anger management issues, or inadequate
119-6 social emotional skills in the classroom.
120-7 (3) SOCIAL-BEHAVIORAL SKILLS. Non-cognitive skills
121-8 and executive functioning including, but not limited to, the
122-9 ability to attend to tasks; shift attention in response to
123-10 expectations; inhibit socially inappropriate responses;
124-11 process, remember, and use information; and manage emotions
125-12 such as frustration, anger, and stress. Examples of inadequate
126-13 social-behavioral skills may include the inability to
127-14 self-identify emotions, express thoughts and emotions, perform
128-15 healthy conflict resolution, manage anger, or a diagnosis of
129-16 Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
130-17 Section 3. (a) The department shall develop a
131-18 comprehensive program to address the mental health of
132-19 social-behavioral or social-emotional at risk students. The
133-20 program shall provide for all of the following:
134-21 (1) Ongoing support for teachers to positively and
135-22 effectively manage the behavioral problems of the student in
136-23 the classroom through formal professional development and
137-24 inservice training available to all public K-12 teachers that
138-25 includes, but is not limited to, recognizing signs of
139-26 inadequate social-behavioral skills in a student and best
140-27 practices for schools and classrooms in managing inadequate
141-Page 5 1 social-behavioral skills, including using multi-tiered systems
142-2 of support. The department may allow teachers to receive
143-3 credit in continuing professional education for participation
144-4 in a training course.
145-5 (2) Providing for one-on-one or small group mental
146-6 health consultations for students, including consultation with
147-7 counselors, mental health specialists, behavior specialists,
148-8 or family focused interventions.
149-9 (3) Developing curricula on age-appropriate social
150-10 skills provided directly to students in the classroom.
151-11 (4) Strengthening parenting capacities through
152-12 parenting programs to support a student's social-behavioral
153-13 competence and create parent, school, student partnerships
154-14 that promote the development of the whole student and family
155-15 structure.
156-16 (b) The program shall be designed in a manner that
157-17 allows flexibility among schools and school districts to
158-18 tailor the elements of the program that best works for the
159-19 school and community and reflects current best practices in
160-20 addressing behavioral problems in the classroom.
161-21 (c) The department shall create a self-assessment
162-22 tool for schools and school districts to determine whether the
163-23 program is effectively helping social-behavioral or
164-24 social-emotional at risk students learn age-appropriate
165-25 social-behavioral skills, to assist teachers and other
166-26 professionals in managing social-behavioral or
167-27 social-emotional at risk students' behavioral problems in a
168-Page 6 1 classroom setting, and to prevent or minimize class
169-2 disruptions.
170-3 Section 4. (a) In order to improve educational
171-4 outcomes for all students, the department shall develop a safe
172-5 and supportive schools framework. The framework shall provide
173-6 guidance and support to schools to assist with the fostering
174-7 of a safe, positive, healthy, and inclusive whole-school
175-8 learning environment that does both of the following:
176-9 (1) Enables students to develop positive
177-10 relationships with adults and peers, to self regulate emotions
178-11 and behaviors, achieve academic and non-academic success in
179-12 school, and to maintain health and well-being.
180-13 (2) Integrates services and aligns initiatives that
181-14 promote the behavioral health of students, including social
182-15 and emotional learning, bullying prevention, trauma
183-16 sensitivity, dropout prevention, truancy reduction, nutrition,
184-17 mental health, foster care and homeless youth education,
185-18 inclusion of students with disabilities, positive behavioral
186-19 approaches that reduce suspensions and expulsions, and other
187-20 similar initiatives.
188-21 (b)(1) Subject to appropriations by the Legislature,
189-22 each local board of education shall implement the safe and
190-23 supportive schools framework developed under subsection (a) in
191-24 order to organize, integrate, and sustain school and
192-25 district-wide efforts to create safe and supportive school
193-26 environments and coordinate and align student prevention and
194-27 support initiatives.
195-Page 7 1 (2) Each school system implementing the safe and
196-2 supportive schools framework shall also develop an action plan
197-3 as further provided in subsection (d). The local
198-4 superintendent of education may appoint a team to make
199-5 recommendations concerning the development of this action
200-6 plan, provided a team shall include a broad representation of
201-7 the school and local community, and the superintendent shall
202-8 include teachers and other school personnel, parents,
203-9 students, and representatives from community-based agencies
204-10 and providers.
205-11 (c) The department may create a separate
206-12 self-assessment tool organized according to the elements of
207-13 the framework established under subsection (a) for schools to
208-14 use when developing their action plan. The self-assessment
209-15 tool shall be used by school systems to do all of the
210-16 following:
211-17 (1) Assess the capacity of the school system to
212-18 create and sustain safe and supportive school environments for
213-19 all students.
214-20 (2) Identify areas where additional school-based
215-21 action, efforts, guidance, and support are needed to create
216-22 and maintain safe and supportive school environments.
217-23 (3) Create action plans to address the areas of need
218-24 identified by the assessment with timed, specific, realistic,
219-25 and measurable goals.
220-26 (d) School action plans shall be designed to address
221-27 the areas of need identified through the use of the
222-Page 8 1 self-assessment tool described in subsection (c), shall be
223-2 published on the website of the school district, and shall
224-3 include all of the following:
225-4 (1) Strategies and initiatives for addressing the
226-5 areas of need.
227-6 (2) A timeline for implementing the plan.
228-7 (3) Outcome goals and indicators for evaluating the
229-8 effectiveness of the action plan.
230-9 (4) A process and schedule for reviewing the plan
231-10 annually or biannually and updating it at least once every
232-11 three years.
233-12 (e) The department shall facilitate the
234-13 implementation of the safe and supportive schools framework in
235-14 school systems developing and implementing an action plan by
236-15 providing technical assistance to school systems and
237-16 developing and disseminating model protocols and best
238-17 practices.
239-18 (f) Nothing in this section shall be construed as
240-19 limiting the ability of the department to contract with
241-20 individuals, external partners, or other entities to support
242-21 the functions established under this section. The department
243-22 shall consider opportunities for education collaboratives or
244-23 other regional service organizations to provide technical
245-24 assistance and information to school districts on the
246-25 implementation of the framework and action plans.
247-26 Section 5. (a) Commencing with the 2023-2024 school
248-27 year, each local board of education in the state shall employ
249-Page 9 1 a mental health service coordinator. The coordinator shall be
250-2 responsible for coordinating student mental health services
251-3 throughout the local school system.
252-4 (b) An individual hired as a coordinator shall
253-5 possess at least one of the following qualifications:
254-6 (1) Have a bachelor's degree in social work.
255-7 (2) Satisfy department qualifications for a school
256-8 counselor.
257-9 (3) Satisfy department qualifications for a school
258-10 nurse.
259-11 (4) Have professional mental health experience, or
260-12 have been licensed in a mental health occupation including,
261-13 but not limited to, licensure as a licensed professional
262-14 counselor or marriage and family therapist.
263-15 (5) Other qualifications as determined by the
264-16 department and the Alabama Department of Mental Health.
265-17 (c) Within one year after being hired as a mental
266-18 health service coordinator, an individual shall earn a
267-19 school-based mental health certificate by successfully
268-20 completing a certification program developed by the Alabama
269-21 Department of Mental Health.
270-22 (d) On or before the last day of the 2023 fiscal
271-23 year, and as requested thereafter, each local board of
272-24 education shall complete and submit to the Alabama Department
273-25 of Mental Health a needs assessment and resource map for the
274-26 schools under the jurisdiction of the board. The assessment
275-27 shall document the status of mental health for the entire
276-Page 10 1 school system and allow the local board of education to engage
277-2 in a quality improvement process to improve the provision of
278-3 mental health resources within the school system.
279-4 (e) The administration of this section shall be
280-5 subject to appropriations made by the Legislature.
281-6 Section 6. The State Board of Education and the
282-7 Alabama Department of Mental Health shall adopt rules and
283-8 policies as applicable, appropriate, and necessary to
284-9 implement this act.
285-10 Section 7. This act shall become effective on the
286-11 first day of the third month following its passage and
287-12 approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.
288-Page 11 1
289-2
290-3 Senate
291-Read for the first time and referred to the Senate4
292-committee on Education Policy.....................5 1.1-JAN-22
293- 6
294-Read for the second time and placed on the calen-7
295-dar with 1 substitute and.........................8 0.2-FEB-22
296- 9
297-Read for the third time and passed as amended ....10 0.9-FEB-22
298-Yeas 2811
299-12 Nays 1
300-13
301-14
302-15 Patrick Harris,
303-16 Secretary.
304-17
305-Page 12
13+7
14+8 SYNOPSIS: This bill would require the State Department
15+9 of Education to develop a program to specifically
16+10 address the mental health of that population of
17+11 public K-12 students (Tier II students) who are
18+12 considered at risk for developing inadequate
19+13 social-behavioral skills, such as ADHD or anger
20+14 management issues, in the classroom.
21+15 This bill would provide that the program
22+16 include developing and providing professional
23+17 development training, providing one-on-one
24+18 consultations with students and behavioral
25+19 specialists, and developing curricula for those at
26+20 risk students to learn appropriate
27+21 social-behavioral skills.
28+22 This bill would require the department to
29+23 provide guidance for each school district in
30+24 establishing a safe and supportive school framework
31+25 to support schools in fostering a positive and
32+26 healthy learning environment and improve student
33+27 outcomes.
34+Page 1 1 This bill would require the department to
35+2 provide support to each school district in adopting
36+3 a supportive school framework and developing an
37+4 action plan to improve the learning environment
38+5 throughout the school system.
39+6 This bill would establish and provide for
40+7 the qualifications and duties of a mental health
41+8 service coordinator and would require each local
42+9 board of education in the state, subject to
43+10 appropriations by the Legislature, to employ a
44+11 mental health service coordinator to serve those
45+12 schools under the jurisdiction of the board.
46+13 This bill would provide for the
47+14 responsibilities of the State Department of
48+15 Education and the Alabama Department of Mental
49+16 Health in providing continuing evaluation and
50+17 support of mental health services provided to
51+18 students through local boards of education.
52+19 This bill would also provide for the
53+20 responsibilities of the State Department of
54+21 Education, the State Board of Education, and the
55+22 Alabama Department of Mental Health relating to the
56+23 program.
57+24
58+25 A BILL
59+26 TO BE ENTITLED
60+27 AN ACT
61+Page 2 1
62+2 Relating to public K-12 education, to require the
63+3 State Department of Education to develop a program to address
64+4 the mental health of students (Tier II students) who are
65+5 considered at risk for developing inadequate social-behavioral
66+6 skills, such as ADHD or anger management issues, in the
67+7 classroom; to require the department to provide guidance for
68+8 school districts in establishing a safe and supportive school
69+9 framework to support schools in fostering a positive and
70+10 healthy learning environment and improve student outcomes; to
71+11 require the department to provide support to school districts
72+12 in adopting a supportive school framework and developing an
73+13 action plan to improve the learning, emotional, and socially
74+14 appropriate environment in schools throughout the district; to
75+15 require each local board of education in the state, subject to
76+16 appropriations by the Legislature, to employ a mental health
77+17 service coordinator; to provide for the qualifications and
78+18 duties of the mental health service coordinator; to require
79+19 each local board of education to complete and submit a needs
80+20 assessment relating to the provision of mental health
81+21 resources to students; and to provide for the responsibilities
82+22 of the State Department of Education, the State Board of
83+23 Education, and the Alabama Department of Mental Health.
84+24 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
85+25 Section 1. The Legislature finds all of the
86+26 following:
87+Page 3 1 (1) The State Department of Education and the public
88+2 K-12 schools of the state provide effective targeted intensive
89+3 intervention strategies for the population of high risk
90+4 students and proactive strategies that promote the mental
91+5 health of the general student population, with no specific
92+6 intervention strategies for students considered at risk for
93+7 developing inadequate social-behavioral skills.
94+8 (2) There is a prevalence of students in public K-12
95+9 schools who lack age-appropriate social, emotional, and
96+10 behavioral skills including, but not limited to, students with
97+11 Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and students
98+12 who lack the ability to appropriately manage anger and other
99+13 emotions, often causing chronic disability and disadvantage in
100+14 children and directly interfering with the intellectual,
101+15 social, and emotionally appropriate development of students.
102+16 (3) Students living in poverty are more than twice
103+17 as likely to have social, emotional, and behavioral
104+18 difficulties.
105+19 (4) Poverty increases the likelihood that children
106+20 will be exposed to multiple adverse childhood experiences such
107+21 as experiencing or witnessing violence, and children who have
108+22 been exposed are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD or
109+23 other behavior problems.
110+24 (5) When teachers are unable to manage disruptive
111+25 behavior in the classroom, learning for all students is
112+26 diminished because teachers spend more instructional time on
113+27 behavior management.
114+Page 4 1 (6) It is essential that students, teachers, and
115+2 school staff receive consistent and continuing instruction on
116+3 appropriate methods of addressing the root of perceived
117+4 disruptive behavior and the means of correcting those
118+5 behaviors in a manner that does not hinder the educational
119+6 progress of the student or the social, emotional, or
120+7 behavioral growth and development of the student.
121+8 (7) The most likely outcomes for students who have
122+9 inadequate or inappropriate social, emotional, or behavioral
123+10 skills are being retained in a grade, receiving services and
124+11 support through Individual Education Plans or 504 Plans, being
125+12 suspended or expelled from school, or the development of
126+13 additional or worsening of social, emotional, or behavioral
127+14 issues or challenges, all of which are costly to families,
128+15 schools, and the larger community.
129+16 (8) Discipline policies that emphasize the
130+17 exclusionary practices of suspension or expulsion from the
131+18 classroom negatively affect a student's academic success and
132+19 behavioral health, increasing the likelihood of his or her
133+20 involvement in the criminal justice system, and decreasing the
134+21 student's likelihood of completing high school, which all come
135+22 with substantial social and economic costs.
136+23 (9) Discipline policies, among other factors, set
137+24 the school culture and climate for all students. Research
138+25 indicates that the implementation of alternative, restorative
139+26 disciplinary practices can positively affect school climate
140+Page 5 1 and individual connectedness, thus affecting school quality,
141+2 especially among lower-performing schools.
142+3 (10) Teachers often lack the training and resources
143+4 needed to appropriately address, assist, and effectively teach
144+5 disruptive students who lack age-appropriate social,
145+6 emotional, and behavioral skills.
146+7 (11) There is evidence that providing teachers
147+8 training on positive classroom management strategies,
148+9 integrating a student's social and emotional skills training
149+10 into instruction, and providing mental health consultations,
150+11 healthy expression, and processing emotions and conflict
151+12 resolution skills, increased healthy physical movement,
152+13 effective communication between students, teachers, and staff,
153+14 and independent and small group learning experiences, and
154+15 implementing policies emphasizing restorative approaches to
155+16 school discipline may reduce disruptive behaviors and improve
156+17 academic achievement.
157+18 Section 2. For the purposes of this act, the
158+19 following terms shall have the following meanings:
159+20 (1) DEPARTMENT. The State Department of Education.
160+21 (2) SOCIAL-BEHAVIORAL SKILLS. Non-cognitive skills
161+22 and executive functioning including, but not limited to, the
162+23 ability to attend to tasks; shift attention in response to
163+24 expectations; inhibit socially inappropriate responses;
164+25 process, remember, and use information; and manage emotions
165+26 such as frustration, anger, and stress. Examples of inadequate
166+27 social-behavioral skills include, but are not limited to, the
167+Page 6 1 inability to self-identify emotions, express thoughts and
168+2 emotions, perform healthy conflict resolution, manage anger,
169+3 and a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
170+4 (ADHD).
171+5 (3) TIER II STUDENTS. That population of public K-12
172+6 students who are considered at risk for developing inadequate
173+7 social-behavioral skills, such as ADHD or anger management
174+8 issues, in the classroom
175+9 Section 3. (a) The department shall develop and
176+10 implement a comprehensive program to address the mental health
177+11 of Tier II students. The program shall provide for all of the
178+12 following:
179+13 (1) Ongoing support for teachers to positively and
180+14 effectively manage the behavioral problems of the student in
181+15 the classroom through formal professional development and
182+16 inservice training of all public K-12 teachers that includes,
183+17 but is not limited to, recognizing signs of inadequate
184+18 social-behavioral skills in a student and best practices for
185+19 schools and classrooms in managing inadequate
186+20 social-behavioral skills, including using multi-tiered systems
187+21 of support. The department may allow teachers to receive
188+22 credit in continuing professional education for participation
189+23 in a training course.
190+24 (2) Providing for one-on-one or small group mental
191+25 health consultations for students, including consultation with
192+26 counselors, mental health specialists, behavior specialists,
193+27 and family focused interventions.
194+Page 7 1 (3) Developing curricula on age-appropriate social
195+2 skills provided directly to students in the classroom.
196+3 (4) Strengthening parenting capacities through
197+4 parenting programs to support a student's social-behavioral
198+5 competence and create parent, school, student partnerships
199+6 that promote the development of the whole student and family
200+7 structure.
201+8 (b) The program shall be designed in a manner that
202+9 allows flexibility among schools and school districts to
203+10 tailor the elements of the program that work best for the
204+11 school and community and reflect current best practices in
205+12 addressing behavioral problems in the classroom.
206+13 (c) The department shall create a self-assessment
207+14 tool for schools and school districts to determine whether the
208+15 program is effectively helping Tier II students learn
209+16 age-appropriate social-behavioral skills, to assist teachers
210+17 and other professionals in managing Tier II students'
211+18 behavioral problems in a classroom setting, and to prevent or
212+19 minimize class disruptions.
213+20 Section 4. (a) In order to improve educational
214+21 outcomes for all students, the department shall develop a safe
215+22 and supportive school framework. The framework shall provide
216+23 guidance and support to schools to assist with the fostering
217+24 of a safe, positive, healthy, and inclusive whole-school
218+25 learning environment that does both of the following:
219+26 (1) Enables students to develop positive
220+27 relationships with adults and peers, regulates the emotions
221+Page 8 1 and behavior of students, achieves academic and non-academic
222+2 success in school, and maintains physical and psychological
223+3 health and well-being.
224+4 (2) Integrates services and aligns initiatives that
225+5 promote the behavioral health of students, including social
226+6 and emotional learning, bullying prevention, trauma
227+7 sensitivity, dropout prevention, truancy reduction, nutrition,
228+8 mental health, foster care and homeless youth education,
229+9 inclusion of students with disabilities, positive behavioral
230+10 approaches that reduce suspensions and expulsions, and other
231+11 similar initiatives.
232+12 (b)(1) Subject to appropriations, each local board
233+13 of education shall implement the safe and supportive school
234+14 framework developed under subsection (a) in order to organize,
235+15 integrate, and sustain school and district-wide efforts to
236+16 create safe and supportive school environments and coordinate
237+17 and align student prevention and support initiatives.
238+18 (2) Each school implementing the safe and supportive
239+19 school framework shall also develop an action plan as further
240+20 provided in subsection (d). The local superintendent of
241+21 education may appoint a team to develop this action plan,
242+22 provided a team shall include a broad representation of the
243+23 school and local community, and the superintendent shall
244+24 include teachers and other school personnel, parents,
245+25 students, and representatives from community-based agencies
246+26 and providers.
247+Page 9 1 (c) The department shall create a self-assessment
248+2 tool organized according to the elements of the framework
249+3 established under subsection (a) for schools to use when
250+4 developing their action plan. The self-assessment tool shall
251+5 be used by schools to do all of the following:
252+6 (1) Assess the capacity of the school to create and
253+7 sustain safe and supportive school environments for all
254+8 students.
255+9 (2) Identify areas where additional school-based
256+10 action, efforts, guidance, and support are needed to create
257+11 and maintain safe and supportive school environments.
258+12 (3) Create action plans to address the areas of need
259+13 identified by the assessment with timed, specific, realistic,
260+14 and measurable goals.
261+15 (d) School action plans shall be designed to address
262+16 the areas of need identified through the use of the
263+17 self-assessment tool described in subsection (c), shall be
264+18 published on the website of the school district, and shall
265+19 include all of the following:
266+20 (1) Strategies and initiatives for addressing the
267+21 areas of need identified by the assessment.
268+22 (2) A timeline for implementing the strategies and
269+23 initiatives.
270+24 (3) Outcome goals and indicators for evaluating the
271+25 effectiveness of the strategies and initiatives set forth in
272+26 the action plan, which may include attendance and graduation
273+27 rates; bullying incidences; number of student suspensions and
274+Page 10 1 expulsions; emotional, behavioral, and mental unbiased
275+2 assessment tools; number of office referrals; truancy and
276+3 tardiness rates; time spent on learning; and other measures of
277+4 school success.
278+5 (4) A process and schedule for reviewing the plan
279+6 annually or biannually and updating it at least once every
280+7 three years.
281+8 (e) The department shall facilitate and oversee the
282+9 implementation of the safe and supportive school framework in
283+10 schools developing and implementing the framework and action
284+11 plan by providing technical psychosocial assistance to schools
285+12 and developing and disseminating model protocols and best
286+13 practices.
287+14 (f) Nothing in this section shall be construed as
288+15 limiting the ability of the department to contract with
289+16 individuals, external partners, or other entities to support
290+17 the functions established under this section. The department
291+18 shall consider opportunities for education collaboratives or
292+19 other regional service organizations to provide technical
293+20 assistance and information to school districts on the
294+21 implementation of the framework and action plan.
295+22 Section 5. (a) Commencing with the 2023-2024 school
296+23 year, each local board of education in the state shall employ
297+24 a mental health service coordinator. The coordinator shall be
298+25 responsible for coordinating student mental health services
299+26 throughout the local school system with specific focus on Tier
300+27 II students.
301+Page 11 1 (b) An individual hired as a coordinator shall
302+2 possess at least one of the following qualifications:
303+3 (1) Have a bachelor's degree in social work.
304+4 (2) Satisfy department qualifications for a school
305+5 counselor.
306+6 (3) Satisfy department qualifications for a school
307+7 nurse.
308+8 (4) Have professional mental health experience, or
309+9 have been licensed in a mental health occupation including,
310+10 but not limited to, licensure as a licensed professional
311+11 counselor or marriage and family therapist.
312+12 (5) Other qualifications as determined by the
313+13 department and the Alabama Department of Mental Health.
314+14 (c) Within one year after being hired as a mental
315+15 health service coordinator, an individual shall earn a
316+16 school-based mental health certificate by successfully
317+17 completing a certification program developed by the Alabama
318+18 Department of Mental Health.
319+19 (d) On or before the last day of the 2023 fiscal
320+20 year, and as requested thereafter, each local board of
321+21 education shall complete and submit to the Alabama Department
322+22 of Mental Health a needs assessment and resource map for the
323+23 schools under the jurisdiction of the board. The assessment
324+24 shall document the status of mental health for the entire
325+25 school system and allow the local board of education to engage
326+26 in a quality improvement process to improve the provision of
327+Page 12 1 mental health resources to Tier II students within the school
328+2 system.
329+3 (e) The administration of this section shall be
330+4 subject to appropriations made by the Legislature.
331+5 Section 6. The State Board of Education and the
332+6 Alabama Department of Mental Health shall adopt rules and
333+7 policies as applicable, appropriate, and necessary to
334+8 implement this act.
335+9 Section 7. This act shall become effective on the
336+10 first day of the third month following its passage and
337+11 approval by the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.
338+Page 13