During the 89th Texas Legislative Session, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 12, which requires schools to get annual parental consent before providing routine physical or mental health services. This includes things like first aid, short-term counseling, or vision and hearing screenings.

By law, parental consent is required for a student to receive routine school-based physical and mental health-related services from qualified school staff, including nurses, athletic trainers, counselors, other health professionals, and other staff members responsible for supervising children.

Parental consent supports timely and equitable access to care that promotes student safety, wellness, and readiness to learn. Consent is valid for the entire school year unless a parent/guardian chooses to revoke it in writing.

To complete the consent form in Skyward:

• Log into your Skyward Family Access account

• Find the SB 12 Annual Consent Form

• Indicate whether or not you consent.

*Please note that if you have multiple students enrolled in school, you will need to fill out a form for each child.

Physical Health Services (by school nurses or athletic trainers):

• General first aid and injury evaluation

• State-mandated screenings such as vision and hearing

• Monitoring of chronic health conditions (e.g., asthma, diabetes)

• Vision, hearing, Acanthosis, Nigricans, and Scoliosis screenings

• Support during illness or physical symptoms at school

• Heat illness prevention and injury support for student athletes

Mental Health Services (by school counselors or mental health staff):

• Short-term individual counseling or check-ins

• Comprehensive student-success needs assessment (academic related behavior needs like study skills and school involvement, not for mental health diagnostic purposes)

• Social-emotional skill-building or group counseling

• Support during emotional distress or crisis, including assessment following a reported concern of student self-harm or harm to others

• Behavioral observations and problem-solving

• Referral to external providers, if needed (with additional consent)

What This Consent Does Not Include:

• Formal medical or psychological diagnosis

• Prescription medication administration without proper authorization

• Ongoing therapy or treatment requiring parental notification under law

These activities would require separate written consent and parental involvement, unless in emergency or legally exempt circumstances.

All District employees:

• Shall report alleged abuse or neglect of a student as required by law; and

• May verbally inquire about a student’s daily well-being without parental consent.

District employees and contractors will not provide assistance with social transitioning, including providing any information about social transitioning or providing guidelines intended to assist a person with social transitioning.

Under state law, a child may consent to counseling for themselves as it relates to suicide prevention; chemical addiction or dependency; or sexual, physical or emotional abuse.