1. And how it applies to suicide prevention programs in Utah schools February 28, 2014

2.  Passed in 1978 as an amendment to the Family Education Rights to Privacy Act (FERPA).  Intended to protect the rights of parents and students in 2 ways: 1. Any material used by students in ED funded surveys, analyses, or evaluations must be made available to parents to inspect prior to use with their child. 2. It ensures that schools and contractors acquire written parental consent before a minor student is required to participate in ED funded surveys, analyses or evaluations which may reveal personal information about certain topics.

3.  Passed in 1994 by the Utah Legislature  Expands on the federal PPRA  The purpose of the law is to establish that certain issues or areas of discussion are best discussed in a private or family setting and should only be discussed in a school setting or with school personnel with parental permission.  An additional purpose is to direct educators to contact parents or guardians if the educator believes that a student is in a dangerous situation.

4. “Policies adopted by a school district under Section 53A-13-301 shall include prohibitions on the administration to a student of any psychological or psychiatric examination, test, or treatment, or any survey, analysis, or evaluation without the prior written consent of the student's parent or legal guardian, in which the purpose or evident intended effect is to cause the student to reveal information, whether the information is personally identifiable or not, concerning the student's or any family member's…”53A-13-301

5.  political affiliations or,...political philosophies;  mental or psychological problems;  sexual behavior, orientation, or attitudes;  illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, or demeaning behavior;  critical appraisals of individuals with whom the student or family member has close family relationships;  religious affiliations or beliefs;  legally recognized privileged and analogous relationships, such as those with lawyers, medical personnel, or ministers; and  income, except as required by law.

6.  Do “mental or psychological problems” include questions about suicide?  Most likely, yes. Even the most strict interpretation would likely agree that suicidal ideation is a mental or psychological problem.

7.  “Except in the response to a situation which a school employee reasonably believes to be an emergency…disclosure to a parent or legal guardian must be given at least two weeks before information protected under this section is sought.”  In other words, disclosure must be provided to parents 2 week prior to the time of the discussion of a protected topic, UNLESS the situation is an emergency situation.

8.  With the passage of several suicide bills last year, there was heightened focus on suicide prevention programs and interventions for students with suicidal ideation. The following questions were raised: Does this exception allow school employees to talk to a student or a group of students about suicide? Is the topic itself emergency enough? How can we find out for sure if it is an emergency: student is serious, accessible weapons, etc.? Are we allowed to ask a couple preliminary questions regarding the mental or psychological problems?”

9.  The law and the exception, as currently written, would not likely allow for a suicide prevention program that would train teachers and/or other students to ask probing questions, recognize the signs of suicide, and refer any high risk students to the right person.  “[S]ome students may reveal a mental or psychological problem in response to certain questions, and at that point, school employees would be evaluating and/or analyzing students for a risk of suicide.”  “[T]he emergency exception is not broad enough to allow school districts to implement suicide prevention programs wholesale…”

10.  Yes. During the 2014 legislative session, a bill was passed that amends the law to allow for the implementation of suicide prevention programs and direct and probing questions that currently may run afoul the law without prior written parental consent.

11.  Allows a school employee or SRO to intervene and ask a student questions regarding the student's suicidal thoughts, physical elf- harming behavior, or thoughts of harming others, for the purposes of: referring the student to appropriate prevention services; and informing the student's parents  Requires a school district or charter school to develop a policy related to school employee intervention measures on or before September 1, 2014;  Allows a public school suicide prevention program and school personnel to ask a student questions related to youth suicide prevention, intervention, or postvention.  This bill has been signed into law and is effective May 13, 2014.

12.  If a school employee, agent, or school resource officer believes a student is at-risk of attempting suicide, physical self-harming, or harming others, the school employee or agent, or school resource officer may intervene and ask a student questions regarding the student’s suicidal thoughts, physically self-harming behavior, or thoughts of harming others for the purposes of: Referring the student to appropriate prevention services; and Informing the student’s parents or legal guardian.  On or before Sept. 14, 2014, a school district or charter school shall develop and adopt a policy regarding school employee intervention measures consistent with Subsection (7)(a) while requiring the minimum degree of intervention to accomplish the goals of this section.  A public school suicide prevention program may allow school personnel to ask a student questions related to youth suicide prevention, intervention, or postvention.

13.  Current law requires LEAs to implement a youth suicide prevention program in the secondary grades, which must include prevention of youth suicides; youth suicide intervention; and postvention for family, students, and faculty.  The law also requires the State Office of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Health to develop model programs to provide program training and resources to school districts/charter schools.  This bill provides that the programs implemented by LEAs must be “evidence-based practices and programs, OR emerging best practices and programs, for preventing suicide.

14.  The bill also amends the requirement that school districts must offer a parent seminal once a year to now state a school district shall offer a parent seminar once a year “for each 11,000 students enrolled in the district.” In other words, if a district has 55,000 students enrolled, the district must offer the seminar 5 times a year.  Finally, the bill amends the curriculum for the parent seminar to include suicide prevention “including education on limiting access to fatal means” This is in addition to the training on substance abuse, bullying, mental health, depression, and internet safety.

15.  53A-11a-203 (passed last year) requires a school to report to parents any incident of bullying or threat of suicide involving their student.  The law also requires the school to maintain a record of that report, and prohibits disclosure of that record to anyone other than the parents.

16. Please feel free to contact me at: Heidi.alder@schools.utah.gov OR (801) 538-7832