House File 2187 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 2187 BY STAED , ABDUL-SAMAD , HANSEN , JACOBY , HUNTER , MASCHER , BROWN-POWERS , DONAHUE , B. MEYER , WILBURN , and STECKMAN A BILL FOR An Act relating to school district funding for certain 1 school-based mental health and behavioral services and 2 including effective date provisions. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 5729YH (5) 89 md/jh

H.F. 2187 Section 1. Section 257.11, Code 2022, is amended by adding 1 the following new subsection: 2 NEW SUBSECTION . 7A. Programs for school-based mental health 3 and behavioral services. 4 a. In order to provide additional funding to school 5 districts for mental health and behavioral services, a 6 supplementary weighting plan is adopted for school budget 7 years beginning on or after July 1, 2022. A supplementary 8 weighting of six hundred forty-two one-hundred-thousandths 9 per pupil shall be assigned to the percentage of pupils in 10 a school district enrolled in grades one through six, as 11 reported by the school district on the basic educational 12 data survey for the base year, who are eligible for free and 13 reduced price meals under the federal National School Lunch 14 Act and the federal Child Nutrition Act of 1966, 42 U.S.C. 15 §1751 – 1785, multiplied by the budget enrollment in the school 16 district; and a supplementary weighting of two hundred four 17 one-hundred-thousandths per pupil shall be assigned to pupils 18 included in the budget enrollment of the school district. 19 b. Amounts received as supplementary weighting under this 20 subsection shall be utilized by a school district to develop 21 or maintain district-wide, building-wide, or grade-specific 22 school-based mental health and behavioral services. 23 c. For purposes of this subsection, “school-based mental 24 health and behavioral services” means any of the following: 25 (1) Student mental health and behavioral assessments. 26 (2) Mental health and behavioral programs conducted by 27 licensed professionals serving students, including in-school 28 counseling, telehealth services, and plans for referrals for 29 services provided outside of the school setting. 30 (3) Teacher, administrator, and support staff mental health 31 and behavioral issue training. 32 (4) Costs to employ student mental health and behavioral 33 professionals including school counselors, school nurses, and 34 school social workers, including student loan forgiveness for 35 -1- LSB 5729YH (5) 89 md/jh 1/ 3

H.F. 2187 such persons. 1 (5) Implementation of safety measures to ensure a safe and 2 disruption-free school environment. 3 (6) Initiatives to integrate mental health, behavioral 4 issues, suicide prevention, and coping skills into existing 5 curriculum. 6 Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act, being deemed of immediate 7 importance, takes effect upon enactment. 8 EXPLANATION 9 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 10 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 11 In order to provide additional funding to school districts 12 for mental health and behavioral services, this bill 13 establishes a supplementary weighting plan for school budget 14 years beginning on or after July 1, 2022. 15 The bill assigns a supplementary weighting of 0.00642 per 16 pupil to the percentage of pupils in a school district enrolled 17 in grades one through six who are eligible for free and reduced 18 price meals under the federal National School Lunch Act and 19 the federal Child Nutrition Act of 1966, multiplied by the 20 budget enrollment in the school district; and a supplementary 21 weighting of 0.00204 per pupil shall be assigned to pupils 22 included in the budget enrollment of the school district. 23 Amounts received as supplementary weighting under the bill 24 shall be utilized by a school district to develop or maintain 25 district-wide, building-wide, or grade-specific school-based 26 mental health and behavioral services. The bill defines 27 “school-based mental health and behavioral services” to mean 28 any of the following: (1) student mental health and behavioral 29 assessments; (2) mental health and behavioral programs 30 conducted by licensed professionals serving students, including 31 in-school counseling, telehealth services, and plans for 32 referrals for services provided outside of the school setting; 33 (3) teacher, administrator, and support staff mental health 34 and behavioral issue training; (4) costs to employ student 35 -2- LSB 5729YH (5) 89 md/jh 2/ 3

H.F. 2187 mental health and behavioral professionals including school 1 counselors, school nurses, and school social workers, including 2 student loan forgiveness for such persons; (5) implementation 3 of safety measures to ensure a safe and disruption-free school 4 environment; and (6) initiatives to integrate mental health, 5 behavioral issues, suicide prevention, and coping skills into 6 existing curriculum. 7 The bill takes effect upon enactment. 8 -3- LSB 5729YH (5) 89 md/jh 3/ 3