Oregon Law To Allow Students To Take “Mental Health Days”

The AP (7/21, Zimmerman) reports that under legislation signed into law last month, Oregon will now “allow students to take ‘mental health days’ just as they would sick days, expanding the reasons for excused school absences to include mental or behavioral health under a new law that experts say is one of the first of its kind in the U.S.” The aim of the law is “to change the stigma around mental health in a state that has some of the United States’ highest suicide rates.”

Florida Public Schools To Be Required To Teach Students About Mental Health The AP (7/19) reported that public schools in Florida “will now be required to teach students about mental health under a new mandate passed by the state board of education” unanimously on July 17. The board voted “to require that students from sixth through 12th grade take at least five hours of mental health instruction.”

Related Links:

— “Correction: Mental Health Day story, “Sarah Zimmerman, AP, July 21, 2019

Posted in In The News.