Student Physical and Mental Health

At the beginning of each school year, the principal or designee shall notify parents of:

• (1) each health care service offered at their children’s schools and the means for parents to provide consent for any specific services; 

• (2) acknowledgement that consenting to a health care service does not waive the parents’ right to access their children’s educational records or health records or to be notified of changes in their children’s services or monitoring; and 

• (3) the procedures to exercise the parental remedies for concerns related to student health provided by G.S. 115C-76.60 and described below in subsection E.6. 

Before any student well-being questionnaire or health screening form is administered to students in kindergarten through third grade, the principal or designee shall provide parents with a copy of the questionnaire or form and shall inform parents of the means for parents to consent to the use of the questionnaire or form for their children. The principal or designee shall notify parents of changes in services or monitoring related to their children’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being and the school’s ability to provide a safe and supportive learning environment for their children prior to or contemporaneously with the changes being made. In addition, the principal or designee shall notify parents before any changes are made to the names or pronouns used for their children in school records or by school personnel.  

Clink the following links change for pronoun and name change requests:

A CCS student support services training developed by the school system and provided to school personnel adheres to student services guidelines, standards, and frameworks established by the Department of Public Instruction.

No school system policy, procedure, or form will expressly or otherwise prohibit school employees from notifying parents about their children’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being or a change in related services or monitoring, nor will any school system policy, procedure, or form intentionally encourage or be designed in a manner that is reasonably likely to have the effect of encouraging any children to withhold from their parents information about their mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being or a change in related services or monitoring. School personnel shall not discourage or prohibit parental notification of and involvement in critical decisions affecting a student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being.

Discussions Related to Student Well-Being

In accordance with the rights of parents provided in Chapter 114A of the General Statutes, when issues of a student’s well-being arise, school personnel shall encourage the student to discuss the issues with his or her parent. As appropriate, school personnel may facilitate discussions of such issues with parents.

If a parent has a concern about the school or school system’s procedure or practice under Part 4 of Article 7B of Chapter 115C, as described here in Section E of Board Policy 1310, the parent should submit the concern in writing to the principal. The principal shall schedule and hold a meeting with the parent within five days after the concern was submitted. The principal shall conduct any necessary investigation. If possible, the principal should resolve the concern within seven days after the concern was submitted. If the principal cannot resolve the concern within seven days, the principal shall immediately notify the superintendent or designee. The superintendent or designee shall assist, as needed, in resolving the concern.

If the concern has not been resolved within 15 days after the parent initially submitted the concern, the superintendent or designee shall schedule a board hearing to be conducted pursuant to policy 2500, Hearings Before the Board, to occur within the next 15 days. If the concern is not resolved 30 days after the parent initially submitted the concern, the board will provide a statement of the reasons for not resolving the concern.

Written parental permission is required prior to the following activities:  

1. The administration of medications to students by employees of the school system  (see policy 6125, Administering Medicines to Students);

2. The release of student records that are not considered directory information, unless  the release is allowed or required by law (see policy 4700, Student Records);  

3. Off-campus trips; 

4. Students’ participation in high-impact or high-risk sports or extracurricular  activities, such as football or mountain climbing (see policy 4220, Student  Insurance Program); 

5. All decisions or actions as required by the IDEA with regard to providing special  education or related services to students with disabilities (see policy 3520, Special  Education Programs/Rights of Students with Disabilities);

6. Certain health services, as required by law; 

7. Participation in a mental health assessment or mental health services under  circumstances prescribed by federal law;  such as participation in mental health services provided by School Based Mental Health Therapist 

8. Students’ participation in programs or services that provide information about  where to obtain contraceptives or abortion referral services;

9. Students’ participation in surveys that are conducted concerning protected topics  (see policy 4720, Surveys of Students);  

10. Disclosure of students’ free and reduced price lunch eligibility information or  eligibility status; and  

11. Students’ access to the Internet, as described in policy 3225/4312/7320, Technology  Responsible Use.