House Bill 634 - Suicide Prevention in Schools

• State board of education shall adopt rules requiring annual suicide awareness and prevention training for public school personnel, which may be provided through existing in-service or professional development programs.

• State board of education and state department of education must develop a list of approved training materials in consultation with the state department of health and welfare, education and health care stakeholders, and suicide prevention experts.

• Approved training materials must include instruction on identifying mental health services within schools and the community, and procedures for referring youth and families to those services.

• Each public school district shall adopt a policy on student suicide prevention addressing prevention, intervention, and postvention procedures, with the state department of education developing a model policy to guide districts.

• Provides liability protection by prohibiting causes of action for losses resulting from implementation of these provisions or related training, and specifies that the training requirement does not impose any specific duty of care.