Arkansas 2025 2025 Regular Session

Arkansas House Bill HB1755 Draft / Bill

Filed 03/12/2025

                    Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law. 
*TNL096* 	03/11/2025 3:08:06 PM TNL096 
State of Arkansas     1 
95th General Assembly A Bill     2 
Regular Session, 2025  	HOUSE BILL 1755 3 
 4 
By: Representative T. Shephard 5 
By: Senator J. Scott 6 
 7 
For An Act To Be Entitled 8 
AN ACT TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL TO PARTICIPATE 9 
IN THE ARKANSAS PREVENTION NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY; 10 
AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. 11 
 12 
 13 
Subtitle 14 
TO REQUIRE EACH PUBLIC SCHOOL TO 15 
PARTICIPATE IN THE ARKANSAS PREVENTION 16 
NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEY. 17 
 18 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 19 
 20 
 SECTION 1.  Arkansas Code Title 6, Chapter 13, Subchapter 1, is amended 21 
to add an additional section to read as follows: 22 
 6-13-114.  Arkansas Prevention Needs Assessment Survey — Required 23 
participation. 24 
 (a)  Beginning with the 2025 -2026 school year and each year thereafter, 25 
each public school in the State of Arkansas shall administer the Arkansas 26 
Prevention Needs Assessment Survey so that public schools, public school 27 
districts, and communities can effectively improve the lives of students 28 
concerning issues, with a focus on alcohol, tobacco, drug use, mental health, 29 
academic failure, and violence. 30 
 (b)  The Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health of the Department 31 
of Human Services shall: 32 
 (1)  Maintain the survey; and 33 
 (2)  Provide technical assistance to public schools for the 34 
administration of the survey and required reporting, planning, and 35 
development of school mental health prevention and intervention strategies 36    	HB1755 
 
 	2 	03/11/2025 3:08:06 PM TNL096 
informed by the survey results. 1 
 (c)(1)  A public school district superintendent or his or her designee 2 
shall provide written notification to parents and legal guardians of enrolled 3 
students before the administration of the survey under this section. 4 
 (2)  The written notification required under subdivision (d)(1) 5 
of this section shall include information to parents and legal guardians of 6 
enrolled students that they may opt their child out of the survey by 7 
providing written notice to the public school district. 8 
 (d)  Before the annual administration of the survey under this section, 9 
the Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health of the Department of Human 10 
Services shall provide the previous year's survey results to the: 11 
 (1)  President Pro Tempore of the Senate; 12 
 (2)  Speaker of the House of Representatives; 13 
 (3)  Chair of the House Committee on Education and Chair of the 14 
Senate Committee on Education; and 15 
 (4)  Chair of the House Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and 16 
Labor and Chair of the Senate Committee on Public Health, Welfare, and Labor. 17 
 (e)(1)  This section shall be subject to the availability of federal 18 
funding. 19 
 (2)  If federal funding is insufficient to provide the survey to 20 
public school students on an annual basis as required by this section, then 21 
the administration of the survey is not required. 22 
 (f)  As used in this section, the "Arkansas Prevention Needs Assessment 23 
Survey" means the annual substance abuse prevention and mental health survey 24 
of public school students in grades six (6), eight (8), ten (10), and twelve 25 
(12) that is managed by the Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health of 26 
the Department of Human Services. 27 
 (g)  The Office of Substance Abuse and Mental Health of the Department 28 
of Human Services and the State Board of Education may promulgate rules to 29 
carry out this section. 30 
 31 
 32 
 33 
 34 
 35 
 36