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Committee deadlocks on school mental‑health/telehealth bill after contentious debate over parental consent and clinician scope
Summary
Third substitute House Bill 281, which would change parental‑consent rules and processes for school‑based telehealth and mental‑health services, failed to pass the Education Committee after lengthy testimony and competing concerns about parental rights, clinician practice standards, safety carveouts and national accreditation.
The Senate Education Committee considered third substitute House Bill 281, a package of changes to school health and mental‑health practice in schools, but the committee did not advance the bill after extended debate.
Sponsor Representative Grisham (presenter) described the bill as aligning school mental‑health practice with private‑sector expectations by increasing parental involvement: it would require written parental consent for mental‑health services provided through schools, direct clinicians to discuss topics to be addressed with parents (and to honor topics parents ask to exclude), and allow telehealth in some cases. The sponsor said the intent was to move parents from an opt‑in posture to an opt‑out posture and to give parents more information and opportunity to…
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