Cheryl Costa

I strongly oppose this bill. Educators are with our youth for 7 plus hours per day. They are in a unique position to not only educate, support, and mentor children, but also to monitor their mental health and coping strategies. We need to continue to teach educators how to monitor for signs of depression and despair, and to teach them how to help get the students help. We parents cannot do this alone. As a parent of a son who (thankfully) survived a suicide attempt- I can only imagine how his life may have been different if educators had reached out to me to get him help early on. I have also been a school counselor for the last 20 years and have worked in mental health prior and during this tenure. Thank you for your time and attention.