POLICY SNAPSHOT MAY 2025 - Student Health and Wellness at the State Level - Research Findings and Policy Examples (K-12, 2022-2025)

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Callum

Policy Snapshot May 2025 examines student health and wellness at the state level, explaining why quality school-based health services matter for adolescents’ primary care use and broader physical and mental health needs. It reviews trends in state legislation and governors’ State of the State addresses from 2022–2025, and summarizes enacted K–12 policy examples. Coverage includes physical health supports (recess, telehealth, screenings, emergency response planning) and mental and behavioral health supports such as school-linked mental health programs and behavioral health first aid training.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages7

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

What Is the Issue, and Why Does It Matter?

Physical Health

California

Colorado

Delaware

Louisiana

Maryland

Mississippi

Oklahoma

Mental and Behavioral Health

Colorado

Louisiana

POLICY SNAPSHOT MAY 2025 Student Health and Wellness at the State Level Zeke Perez Jr. What Is the Issue, and Why Does It Matter? Research indicates that the provision of quality health services in a school setting increases the use of primary care for adolescents. With an ever-changing array of physical and mental health needs for students and staff, state policymakers are adapting comprehensive health supports. This capturesa spectrum of student health support elements, including health education, mental and behavioral health, and nutrition services. Recent policies have ranged from targeted adjustments like allowing school nurses to administer specific medications to broader approaches like establishing universal free school meals or creating school-based health centers. Student health and wellness has been at the forefront of governors’ State of the State addresses for the past several years. It first surfaced as an emerging trend in 2019 and continued as a top issue every year since. Additionally, health is consistently one of the highest volume topic areas for introduced legislation in Education Commission of the States’ State Education Policy Tracking tool. This Policy Snapshot reviews trends in recent legislation and in governor’s State of the State addresses from 2022 to 2025 and highlights examples of enacted policy in that timeframe related to K-12 student health and wellness as a reference for state leaders interested in taking similar action. Physical Health A consistent area of focus is the provision of services and supports related to the physical health of students. Research shows that healthy behaviors among students have a positive impact on academic achievement, including improved grades, attendance, graduation rates and performance on assessments. Schoolbased health services, health education, training on responses to specific health issues and adjustments to physical activity have become popular policy options to address physical health. In the past few years, state policymakers have sought to support or expand these approaches. California: Citing the positive impacts of recess and physical activity on child academic, physical, social and emotional development, S.B. 291 (Enacted, 2023) requires that recess be at least 30 minutes on regular instructional days and at least 15 minutes on early release days. It also prohibits restricting a student’s recess time as a form of discipline. Colorado: S.B. 24-034 (Enacted, 2024) expands the state’s definition of a school-based health center to authorize the use of state grant program funds for evidence-informed, school-linked health care services. The bill provides that services may include primary healthcare, behavioral health care, oral health care and preventive healthcare services for students and youth and may be delivered through telehealth, mobile services or referrals to clinics near campuses. Delaware: H.B. 382 (Enacted, 2024) requires that public school students receive a vision screening in kindergarten, including a test for color blindness, and provides that students continue to receive screenings at appropriate intervals in grades one to 12. Louisiana: H.B. 908 (Enacted, 2024) prohibits school employees from discriminating against students on the basis of vaccination status, including in the determination of eligibility for academic, athletic or extracurricular activities in schools. Maryland: H.B. 522 (Enacted, 2024) requires the department of education and the department of health to adopt guidelines regarding student access to telehealth appointments during the school day and on school campuses. Mississippi: H.B. 346 (Enacted, 2024) establishes the Seizure Safe Schools Act, which requires each public school board to maintain at least one employee or vendor at each school who has met the training requirements necessary to administer seizure rescue medication. Oklahoma: S.B. 1921 (Enacted, 2024) requires each public school

FAQs

Why is student health and wellness a priority for state policymakers?

Quality health services in schools increase adolescents’ use of primary care. States respond to evolving physical and mental health needs for students and staff with expanding supports and targeted policy changes.

What physical health policies were enacted between 2022 and 2025?

Examples include requirements for minimum recess time, expanded school-based health center definitions with telehealth or mobile options, vision screening requirements, restrictions on discrimination tied to vaccination status, telehealth access guidelines, seizure rescue training requirements, and sudden cardiac emergency response planning.

How do states address mental and behavioral health through school-based supports?

States emphasize coordinated services with schools, including detection and care. Enacted examples include training programs and behavioral health first aid training to help educators recognize early warning signs and respond in crisis situations.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Callum