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Motion of the Council of Allegheny County urging the General Assembly to consider, and with all deliberate speed enact, provisions allowing for excused absences relating to mental health for Pennsylvania primary and secondary education students.
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Whereas, on December 18, 2020, Pennsylvania State Senator Judith Schwank announced plans to introduce a bill allowing for excused “mental health days” by students in primary and secondary schools within the Commonwealth, as an amendment to the Public School Code of 1949; and
Whereas, Senator Schwank’s co-sponsorship memorandum, attached to this Motion, makes a convincing case for the allowance of excused mental health days for Pennsylvania students in a post-COVID-19 world, most notably highlighting that The Anxiety and Depression Association of America found that one in eight children are affected by anxiety, yet 80 percent of those with a diagnosable anxiety disorder do not receive treatment, and that foregoing counseling, medication, and other helpful tools for treating anxiety, children are likely to experience long term mental health issues; and
Whereas, Senator Schwank also notes that anxiety disorders have been increasing in K-12 children since at least the 1950s and studies show that numbers are expected to continue rising in the coming years.; and
Whereas, Senator Schwank’s legislation, which was introduced in 2021 as SB506, would have allowed up to two excused absences for mental health purposes per student per year; and
Whereas, according to www.verywellmind.com, as of May 9, 2023 12 states already provide for these types of absences, with similar legislation pending in several other states; and
Whereas, as noted by the Washington Post in late 2022: “’If nothing else, it makes a huge statement that mental health matters as much as physical health,’ said Mike Winder, a Republican Utah state representative who sponsored a bill that became law in 2021. Winder introduced the bill after conversati...
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