Mental health advocates say a bill moving through the state legislature could have detrimental effects on Arizona students while its proponents say it will return to parents the right to direct their children’s mental health instruction.
House Bill 2093, introduced by State Rep. Lisa Fink, R-Glendale, would repeal the requirement that health education instruction in schools include information related to mental health.
Enacted in 2021 with the passing of Senate Bill 1376, the law requires that students learn the relationship between physical and mental health to enhance student understanding, attitudes and behavior.
Fink argues the current requirement diverts time and focus away from academics and effectively mandates social-emotional learning, which she contends is not neutral health instruction but a values-based framework tied to equity and social justice initiatives.
She has said schools “must return to academics as the primary mission,” and argues mandatory mental health programming intrudes on parental rights and relies on teachers who are not clinically trained. She also claims it fails to improve either academic outcomes or students’ youth mental health.
“Mental health should belong with parents and qualified professionals because mental health care should be individualized, confidential and evidence-based, and not delivered in the classroom in front of peers,” Fink said in a House Education Committee meeting prior to a preliminary approval of the bill by the House in a 27-22 vote.
Opponents counter that school-based mental health instruction reduces stigma, equips students with tools to recognize and respond to emotional distress, and can connect vulnerable youth with trusted adults and life-saving resources.
They argue that for some students – particularly those in troubled homes – schools may be the only structured environment where they learn how to seek help.
Brian Zuckerberg, a youth suicide prevention professional who works directly with students, told the Education Committee that removing required mental health instruction would discourage students from speaking up.
“This bill further stigmatizes mental health,” Zuckerberg said. “It tells children we shouldn’t talk about mental health in school.
“If you need a Band-Aid, go to the nurse. If you have a sore throat, go to the nurse. But if you’re depressed or anxious, you got nobody to talk to. Sorry, deal with it on your own.”
He added that when students are able to talk openly about stress and anxiety, it not only supports their well-being but improves focus and engagement in the classroom.
Francine Sumner, founder of Kid in the Corner, testified that mental health education gives students language and tools to seek help before a crisis escalates. Sumner lost her 16-year-old son to suicide in 2017.
“Mental health education is not extra,” Sumner said. “It is prevention, it is connection, it is life-saving.”
She pointed to examples of students who reached out to trusted adults in their schools and at home after participating in the program, demonstrating how school-based education can move children from silent struggle to active help-seeking.
Mental health became a priority in Arizona in 2018, when the Legislature allocated $3 million to expand behavioral health services on school campuses – one of the first significant state investments in school-based mental health.
Since then, lawmakers have introduced legislation nearly every year addressing youth mental health, including the Mitch Warnock Act and Jake’s Law.
The 2019 Mitch Warnock Act mandates that all public school staff be trained in suicide prevention. It also requires the state to annually post approved suicide prevention training materials.
Jake’s Law, passed in 2020, requires that schools develop a policy to refer students for behavioral health services, and to allow families to opt-in or opt-out of the referral process each year.
According to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, 6,504 Arizona children up to age 17 visited hospitals in 2022 due to suicide attempts and ideation,
“It’s irrefutable that kids need this everywhere,” said Katey McPherson, a Queen Creek digital wellness and mental health expert and former educator.
“It’s a public health crisis,” she said. “It’s a public health model that we use prevention, intervention, [and] postvention.”
She also noted that families have the option to opt their students out of the curriculum, leaving her wondering why the requirement has to be repealed.
This story is made possible through grant funding from the Arizona Local News Foundation’s Arizona Community Collaborative Fund.