When a student is enrolled in a traditional, in-person school, they are surrounded by a network of teachers, administrators, counselors, nurses, and security personnel who maintain a daily, watchful presence. These professionals are also mandatory reporters, trained to identify concerns including abuse, neglect, malnourishment, and mental illness.  

This support structure exists within traditional school districts, brick-and-mortar charter schools, parochial and religious schools, and private academies. 
 
While this system is certainly not perfect, there is little question that this system has played a critical role in safeguarding the health and well-being of countless students. The same cannot be said for the nearly 65,000 Pennsylvania children enrolled in cyber charter education.  
 
To address this urgent issue, I intend to introduce legislation to strengthen Pennsylvania’s wellness and safety protections for students enrolled in cyber charter schools by codifying a clear and enforceable process by which cyber charter schools must verify the well-being of their students and establish a crisis escalation process as part of existing wellness check requirements. 
 
In Act 55 of 2024, the General Assembly adopted legislation requiring cyber charter schools to conduct weekly real-time wellness checks to confirm student well-being and engagement. However, there is no standardized, mandatory protocol for how to respond when those checks reveal serious concerns such as signs of abuse, self-harm, suicidal ideation, and so on. 
 
My legislation will close this dangerous gap by: 

• Establishing clear crisis triggers that mandate escalation with appropriate professionals and crisis teams when serious risks are identified;  
• Requiring timely and appropriate communication with families, crisis teams, and relevant authorities as appropriate; 
• Creating state-level reporting requirements to ensure oversight, compliance, and accountability; 
• Holding cyber charter schools accountable for failure to follow escalation protocols or report student wellness concerns in a timely manner; 
• Providing regular and mandatory training for all personnel conducting wellness checks. 

 As the General Assembly continues to modernize Pennsylvania’s cyber charter law, this is one critical area that demands additional attention as cyber charter schools operate without clear, consistent, and comprehensive infrastructure present in physical schools. 

Pennsylvania must ensure that no child falls through the cracks simply because their education takes place outside of a physical school building. This legislation puts in place strong but practical safeguards to ensure that cyber charter students receive the same level of protection, care, and intervention that any child should expect in a public education setting. 
 
I invite you to join me in co-sponsoring this essential legislation to better protect vulnerable students, support school employees, and strengthen Pennsylvania’s child welfare system.