Counselors would be allowed to disclose student mental health information under a new bill in the state house.
Bill sponsors say the billwould increase communication between counselors when a student changes schools - alerting them to specific mental health needs.
With parental permission, counselors could include information such as a student’s hospitalization, experience of a trauma, or even general notes from previous counselors in a student file.
Republican State Representative Luke Meerman introduced the measure.
“Whatever we can do to put supports around people to keep them from choosing that quick out of suicide, I would like to do that,” he said.
Rhonda Wilson is a teacher with Allendale Public Schools. She said she had a student who took his own life and later found out the student had a friend who had done the same thing.
“Which to me would have been a pretty big heads up,” she said. “I would have wanted to check in and see how this guy is doing and just let him know I’m here.”
Wilson said she is one counselor with over 600 students and it can be hard to identify problems without some kind of communication with previous counselors.
“There wasn’t much for us to go off of until I found that out,” she said. “I was disappointed to find that out a day later I wish I would have known sooner. I would have definitely reached out.”
Legislators behind the bill say the proposal has bipartisan support but don’t yet know if it has enough support to pass.