Mental Health Days

Mental health days are currently in effect! This is a change that SURFBoardE had advocated for since the beginning of 2021 to its final approval on the March 9, 2022 school board meeting. This change authorizes students to take excused absences from school for the benefit of their mental or behavioral health. 

SURFBoardE campaigned for mental health days with the goal of accomplishing the following:

• Students would be encouraged to prioritize their mental health among their academic needs and stress
• Parents would conversate about mental health days, furthering the crucial topic of mental wellness in the community
• Teachers would know if and when their students take mental health days. With this information, they could communicate with students with their needs and make academic adjustments as needed
• District and school staff could use accurate data about the true causes of student absences to direct students to appropriate mental health and counseling resources as needed
• This would contribute to an overall culture shift in FUSD that places more emphasis on student mental wellness 

SURFBoardE drafted the following resolution which was unanimously approved on the March 9 school board meeting.

To engage more students in support of mental health days, SURFBoardE created the following document detailing how a board meeting works, methods to give public comment, tips on how to structure public comment, and details about each important item, including mental health days.

SURFBoardE's original mental health days proposal can be found below.