BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                            Senator Kevin de León, Chair


          SB 330 (Padilla) - Health Framework: Mental Health Instruction
          
          Amended: May 8, 2013            Policy Vote: Education 9-0
          Urgency: No                     Mandate: No
          Hearing Date: May 23, 2013      Consultant: Jacqueline  
          Wong-Hernandez
          
          SUSPENSE FILE.

          
          Bill Summary: SB 330 requires the next revision of the Health  
          curriculum framework to include a distinct category on mental  
          health instruction. This bill also requires the CDE to convene  
          stakeholders in the mental health and educational fields, as  
          specified.

          Fiscal Impact: 
              Mental Health inclusion in Health framework: Potential  
              costs of $140,000, depending on whether the bill intends to  
              update the framework based on current Health Standards for  
              mental health, or whether it intends to reopen the Health  
              standards to update or expand them further.
              Stakeholder work group: Potentially significant costs. The  
              CDE estimates $80,000 in costs to convene the specified  
              stakeholders to provide input for the framework. 

          Background:  Academic content standards define the knowledge,  
          concepts and skills that pupils should learn at each grade  
          level. Curricular frameworks serve as a blueprint for how to  
          implement the standards and provide guidance to publishers,  
          along with evaluation criteria, for the development of  
          instructional materials. The processes for the revision of  
          curricular frameworks and adoption of instructional materials  
          are suspended until the 2015-16 school year.  (EC § 60200.7)

          The role of the Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) is to  
          recommend curriculum frameworks to the State Board of Education  
          (SBE), develop criteria for evaluating instructional materials,  
          study, evaluate and recommend to the SBE instructional materials  
          for adoption, and make recommendations to the SBE regarding the  
          use of frameworks and model curriculum and alignment with the  
          academic content standards.   (EC § 60204)








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          The Health framework was last adopted in 2003, and was in the  
          process of being revised when the statutory (and budgetary)  
          suspension of that process took effect in July 2009. Adoption of  
          the revised Health framework was projected for March 2011. 

          Proposed Law: SB 330 requires, during the next revision of the  
          publication "Health Framework for California Public Schools,"  
          the IQC to develop, and recommend for adoption by the SBE, a  
          distinct category on mental health instruction, as described, to  
          educate pupils about all aspects of mental health. The bill also  
          requires the CDE to convene stakeholders in the mental health  
          and educational fields, as specified to provide input for the  
          development of the mental health instruction in the health  
          framework. Commencing with the 2013-14 school year, the bill  
          would authorize a school district to provide to pupils in any  
          grades mental health instruction. 

          Related Legislation: SB 300 (Hancock) requires the SBE to  
          consider the adoption of a revised curriculum framework and  
          evaluation criteria for instructional materials based on the  
          Next Generation of Science Standards, by November 30, 2015. That  
          bill is currently on the Suspense File in this Committee.

          Staff Comments: The academic content standards for Health define  
          the knowledge, concepts and skills to be included in the Health  
          framework. This bill requires that, during the next revision of  
          the health framework, the IQC develop (and recommend for  
          adoption by the SBE) a distinct category on mental health  
          instruction "to educate pupils about all aspects of mental  
          health" and lists several topic areas as necessary for  
          inclusion. The requirement is for the next Health curriculum  
          framework to contain a comprehensive mental health category.

          The cost of updating the Health framework to include a mental  
          health category hinges on whether the intention is to update the  
          framework using the existing mental health standards already in  
          the Health academic content standards adopted in 2008, or  
          whether the intention is to create more comprehensive content  
          standards to reflect in the Health framework. If the elements of  
          mental health are already expressed in the state-adopted Health  
          standards, the next framework will be based upon them; in that  
          case, this bill does not create additional costs for the  
          framework. If the author's intention is to reopen the Health  








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          standards to change or expand the mental health standards, the  
          CDE estimates that it would need an additional expert writer, at  
          a cost of $140,000.

          This bill also requires the CDE to convene stakeholders in the  
          mental health and educational fields, including, but not limited  
          to, stakeholders from culturally, racially, and ethnically  
          diverse communities, representatives from all mental health  
          professions, teachers, parents, those involved in promoting  
          mental wellness, and those living with a mental health challenge  
          and their families, to provide input for the development of the  
          mental health instruction in the health framework. This  
          requirement is more extensive than a typical stakeholder working  
          group. The CDE estimates a cost of $80,000 for a series of 2-day  
          meetings involving more than 20 stakeholders.