Efforts are being made by state Senator Jessica Garvin to update education policies and give school boards more local control.
Garvin (R-Duncan) will introduce legislation that would bring mental health counselors into public schools, make college and university fee structure more transparent to the public and eliminate the cap on the number of hours a school district can use a substitute teacher.
“We have outdated policies in Oklahoma and need to do a better job of giving local school boards more authority,” she said. “I look forward to learning how to strengthen public policy in Oklahoma to benefit students.”
For starters, Garvin wants to enable mental health professionals to serve public schools as a school counselor. Typically, school counselors at the high school level help students with career planning and state testing. However, Garvin wants the primary mission of the school counselor to focus on mental health.
“If our schools don’t have a solid mental health foundation, they won’t be successful,” she said.
If a school board chooses, it could give the mental health professional time to obtain licensing as a school counselor or hire an administrative assistant to help with the career counseling and state testing.
“Or they could be the same person,” Garvin said. “It would depend on what that school board wants.”
Emotional disturbances and substance abuse among children occur at alarming rates, according to the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. About 10% of Oklahoma youth have a mental health disorder and an additional 10% have a substance abuse issue, the agency reported.
According to the U.S. Surgeon General, children are best served by early intervention. Without early and effective identification and interventions, childhood disorders can persist and lead to school failure, poor employment opportunities, poverty and incarceration in adulthood.
In Tulsa and Oklahoma City school districts, free student mental health screening programs are offered, according to the Mental Health Association of Oklahoma. The screenings assess the physical and emotional well-being of students in sixth through 12th grades. However, the screening typically focuses on students in eighth, ninth and tenth grades, according to the non-profit. These young people are most likely to begin dating and driving and are in the midst of transitioning to high school and more adult responsibilities, the mental health agency wrote on its website.
School superintendents and principals in Garvin’s Senate district have expressed support for her mental health proposal, she said.
Transparent fees
Oklahoma colleges and universities have caps on tuition, but not on fees and some of the fees are not publicly known, Garvin said.
“Right now, schools don’t have to provide fiscal transparency,” she said. “Some are better at it than others.”
Garvin wants to eliminate caps on tuition and fees and allow the educational consumer such as students and parents make their own decisions based on numbers that are known publicly.
In some cases, departments at colleges and universities fail to disclose fees connected to their area of study. That, Garvin said, must be eliminated so students and parents can make an informed decision.
Proposed legislation to increase fiscal transparency and remove caps will be introduced when the Oklahoma Legislature convenes in February.