Anne Arundel County Public Schools presented a new Student Telehealth policy (JU) on second reading at the July 23 board meeting, saying the policy responds to a 2024 state law that requires local boards to adopt telehealth provisions before the 2025–26 school year. Grace Wilson, the district’s director of legislation and policy, told the board the district received one public comment during the 30-day public posting period and that staff recommend a limited service model: telehealth provided by school practitioners focused on behavioral health and operated in accordance with existing partnerships and processes.

Wilson told the board that because the state mandate was unfunded, staff recommend limiting the district’s telehealth offering to behavioral-health practitioner telehealth at this time. “Given that this was an unfunded state mandate, staff is recommending we provide student telehealth but limit that to school practitioner telehealth for behavioral health only,” she said.

Board members encouraged public input before adoption. Board Member Dent asked the public and affected families to submit comments and urged outreach to students so the student perspective is captured in the comment record. The policy will remain open for comment until the board adopts it in a future meeting; staff indicated materials and the posted policy were available for review.

No formal vote was taken on July 23; the item was before the board on second reading and will return for final action at the next scheduled meeting after the public comment period closes. Staff said they made the recommendation to ensure the district complies with state law while constraining service to what the district can provide under current resources and existing partnerships.

Sources: Grace Wilson’s presentation and board member remarks at the July 23 Anne Arundel County Board of Education meeting.