Students can soon take mental health days — as excused absences — under Washington law
Starting this fall, students in Washington will be allowed to have absences excused for mental health reasons, as a result of a new state law.
Under the new law, students can be excused for mental health reasons, including counseling, mental health wellness and behavioral health treatment.
The law requires that the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction create rules for a “standard definition of student absence from school.”
Students will be able to take the mental health days without a doctor’s note, The Seattle Times reported.
“Mental has as much significance as physical health and is similarly important to one’s overall well-being,” Bridget Underdahl of the superintendent’s office told The Seattle Times.
The bill was passed unanimously in the state House and Senate, with Gov. Jay Inslee signing it into law on March 11. The policy went into effect on Thursday, June 9.
A little over a year ago, Inslee declared a youth mental health crisis, using the issue as his reason for ordering schools to give students the option to return to in-person learning.
The new policy comes in the wake of pandemic quarantines, isolation and other related stress that took a toll on students’ mental health. In 2021, more than a third, 37%, of high school students reported poor mental health during the pandemic, while 44% said they “persistently felt sad or hopeless during the past year,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has created traumatic stressors that have the potential to further erode students’ mental wellbeing,” CDC Acting Principal Deputy Director Debra Houry said.
Washington is only the latest state to offer mental health days to students. Others include California, Oregon, Arizona, Nevada, Maine and Illinois.
This story was originally published June 10, 2022 at 11:47 AM with the headline "Students can soon take mental health days — as excused absences — under Washington law."
