Existing law requires: (1) each school district to adopt a plan to ensure that public schools are safe and free of controlled substances; and (2) each school district, university school for profoundly gifted pupils and charter school to prescribe rules of behavior required of and prohibited for pupils. (NRS 388A.495, 388C.150, 392.463)
Section 2 of this bill requires the Department of Education to adopt an evidence-based policy concerning the notification of the parent or legal guardian of a pupil who has exhibited signs and behaviors that are consistent with substance use. Section 2 requires the policy to include: (1) the completion of a screening questionnaire concerning the mental health and substance use of the pupil; (2) holding at least one meeting to discuss the observed signs and behaviors; and (3) filing certain reports with the school concerning the questionnaire and the meetings. Sections 2 and 6 of this bill require public and private schools to comply with the policy and destroy certain reports concerning signs and behaviors consistent with substance use by a pupil after the occurrence of certain events that eliminate the need to maintain the reports.
Existing law requires an employee of or volunteer for a public or private school who, in that capacity, knows or has reasonable cause to believe that a child has been subjected to abuse or neglect to report such abuse or neglect to the agency which provides child welfare services in the county in which the school is located and a law enforcement agency. (NRS 392.303) Sections 2 and 6 require a staff member who witnesses signs and behaviors consistent with substance use and participates in a meeting concerning those signs and behaviors, or an administrator who participates in such a meeting, to file a report of child abuse if the staff member or administrator determines that the parent or guardian of the pupil is providing the substance to the pupil.
Sections 3 and 7 of this bill require: (1) the Department to obtain data from schools on the implementation and effectiveness of the policy adopted pursuant to section 2 and provide such data to the Legislature upon request; and (2) a school to provide redacted copies of any reports in the possession of the school pursuant to section 2 or 6, as applicable, to the Legislature upon request. Section 4 of this bill makes a conforming change to indicate the proper placement of sections 2 and 3 in the Nevada Revised Statutes. Sections 2, 3, 7 and 8 of this bill provide for the confidentiality of questionnaires completed by pupils, reports concerning signs and behaviors consistent with substance use and the personally identifiable information of pupils and staff. Section 9 of this bill requires the Department, on or before July 1, 2026, to adopt the policy required by section 2 and submit that policy to the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau for transmittal to the Legislature and Joint Interim Standing Committee on Education.