The Senate voted 17-3 on Friday to concur with changes to the bill made in the House.
Public schools are facing increasing mental health concerns among students in the years after the coronavirus pandemic, the National Center for Education Statistics found. Young Alaskans, aged 15-24, are the most at-risk age group in the state to die by suicide, according to a 2024 Statewide Suicide Prevention Council report.
Mental health curriculums aim to help students identify and cope with mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, raise awareness of treatment options and offer guidance for staff about how to teach about mental health.
The bill tasks the Department of Education and Early Development with creating a mental health curriculum with guidance from national, state and tribal health organizations. It also allows for individual school districts to choose whether or not to adopt the curriculum, and tailor it to their community.
Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, an Anchorage Democrat and the bill's sponsor, sees the bill's passage as a major step forward for the "hope, health and help" of young people across Alaska.
But opponents to the bill argue that it goes too far in tasking public school educators with managing students' inner lives.
The Legislature unanimously adopted an amendment that would ensure the board uses "medically and scientifically based content" in building a curriculum, and prohibit it from adding "any political, ideological, or advocacy-oriented content that is unrelated to student mental health."
Lawmakers have made attempts to pass a similar bill for years. In 2022, the House passed an amendment to the bill that would have specifically banned the curriculum from including content related to gender identity.
Rep. Julie Coulombe, an Anchorage Republican who proposed this year's amendment, said that she originally crafted it with religion in mind — ensuring that schools do not include any religious teachings or philosophies in writing a mental health curriculum. She said the bill was not necessarily intended to curtail any teachings on gender identity.
Rep. Alyse Galvin, an Anchorage independent who sponsored the House companion bill, saw the amendment as a reasonable addition.
"I just don't see mental health issues or guidance as political or ideological at all," Galvin said.
The bill also requires that districts inform parents of the introduction of the mental health education curriculum, and allow them to withdraw their child from it.
The state Department of Education and Early Development said that creating the curriculum would take about two years. Along with drafting the curriculum, the bill would fund a school health education specialist position within the education department at an estimated cost of $216,000.
The bill passed the House 27-13, with opposition stemming from members of the Republican minority caucus. Six joined the bipartisan majority caucus in a yes vote.
Speaking in support of the bill, Rep. Nellie Jimmie, a Toksook Bay Democrat, harked back to a group of students who came to the Capitol earlier in the session to advocate for more mental health resources. The students spoke about loss of family and loved ones to suicide.
Rates of suicide are even higher among Alaska Native populations and in rural areas of the state.
"When something breaks in a child, in rural Alaska, it usually breaks quietly. And we always see how that ends up. We always find out too late," Jimmie said during a Thursday House floor debate on the bill.
Representatives in the Republican minority caucus opposed the bill, many citing that it tasks already overburdened schools with more heavy responsibilities.
Rep. Dan Saddler, an Eagle River Republican, spoke in opposition, positing that the bill would task teachers with shaping students' "personhood and identity and purpose of life," going beyond the scope of what schools should inform.
"Not every aspect of human existence ... is an appropriate addition to our public school curriculum," Saddler said.
Coulombe said she has seen firsthand the effects of poor mental health in children, but that "community was the fix," and not more government programs. Coulombe said she also took issue with the fact that school districts would not be required to post the curriculum online or have them approved by the school board.
Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, a Sitka Democrat, said her support for the bill stemmed from her experience as a public school teacher. She said the bill would give teachers a framework for helping students address personal and mental health problems that inevitably surface at school.
She argued that maintaining the status quo tells teachers, "Godspeed and good luck, let's hope you know what to do every single day when at least one child comes to you with the situation about their mental health."
Having passed the House and Senate, the bill now heads to Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Jeff Turner, spokesperson for Dunleavy, declined to comment on the governor's intentions for the bill.
Editor's note: If you or someone you know are dealing with a mental health crisis or suicidal thoughts, you can call or text 988 at any time, or text TALK to 741741.
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