S.B. 314
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SENATE BILL NO. 314–SENATOR LANGE
MARCH 10, 2025
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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.
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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 complete 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 properly 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
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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 renewal 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 that: (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 development 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 such 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 the 6
following courses of study: 7
(1) English language arts; 8
(2) Mathematics; 9
(3) Science; 10
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(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 use 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
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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 relating 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 content 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 those 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
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(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 content 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
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(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 requirements 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 under the alternative route to 43
licensure; 44
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(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 pursuant 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 Department 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 for 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 practice of sign language 43
interpreting in a primary or secondary educational setting if they: 44
(1) Provide instruction or other educational services; and 45
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(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 governmental 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 complete 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 the 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
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(a) Must, in addition to the requirements 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 charter 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 meaning 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 professional 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
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(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 administrative 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