Bill > HB338

This bill requires Mississippi public schools to incorporate mental illness and mental health instruction into their health education curriculum beginning in the 2025-2026 school year. The Office of Comprehensive School Health Education will determine the most appropriate elementary grade level to start these age-appropriate lessons, which will be mandatory for that grade and all higher grades. The instruction will be integrated into existing health education time and must achieve five key objectives: helping students understand mental health problems and dispel myths about mental illness, reduce stigma around mental health, recognize mental illness symptoms, learn positive stress-management techniques, and understand how to access professional mental health resources. Additionally, the bill mandates that all licensed school district employees must undergo in-service training on mental illness, developed collaboratively by the State Department of Education and the State Department of Mental Health, with a focus on identifying signs of mental illness in students. The bill is set to take effect on July 1, 2025, providing schools time to prepare and implement these new educational requirements.

Education

https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2025/pdf/history/HB/HB0338.xml