| TO: | Honorable David Dewhurst, Lieutenant Governor, Senate Honorable Joe Straus, Speaker of the House, House of Representatives |
| FROM: | Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | SB460 by Deuell (Relating to training for public school teachers in the detection and education of students at risk for suicide or with other mental or emotional disorders and the inclusion of mental health concerns in coordinated school health efforts.), Conference Committee Report |
The bill would amend the Education Code to require instruction in the detection and eduction of students with mental or emotional disorders as part of the training for educator training programs.
The bill would require local school health advisory councils (SHACs) to review the adopted health education curriculum for accuracy and inclusion of mental health topics.
The bill would require school districts to provide training in early mental health intervention and suicide prevention for teachers, counselors, principals, and other appropriate staff. Training at the elementary campus level could be provided only to the extent that sufficient funding and programs were available.
The Texas Education Agency, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Texas A&M System, The University of Texas System, and Texas State University System have determined that the duties and responsibilities associated with implementing the provisions of the bill could be accomplished by using existing resources. The bill would take effect immediately if passed with the necessary voting margins, or September 1, 2013.
| Source Agencies: | 701 Central Education Agency, 710 Texas A&M University System Administrative and General Offices, 720 The University of Texas System Administration, 758 Texas State University System, 783 University of Houston System Administration
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| LBB Staff: | UP, JBi, JSc, KK, SK, AW
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