school mental health professionals; academy

HB2638 - 572R - I Ver

REFERENCE TITLE:
school mental health professionals; academy

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HB 2638

Introduced by

Representatives
Sandoval: Abeytia, Aguilar, Austin, Connolly, Contreras L, Contreras P,
Garcia, Liguori, Luna-N�jera, M�rquez, Peshlakai, Simacek, Stahl Hamilton,
Tsosie, Villegas

AN
ACT

amending title 15, chapter 13, article 3,
Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 15-1655.01; appropriating
monies; relating to school employee training.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Title 15, chapter 13, article 3,
Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 15-1655.01, to read:

START_STATUTE
15-1655.01.

Arizona school mental health professionals academy; tuition and
fees scholarships; fund; reporting requirements; definitions

A. Eligible postsecondary
institutions shall implement an Arizona school mental health professionals
academy to incentivize students to enter the school psychology, school social
work and school counseling professions and to commit to work as a school
psychologist, school social worker or school counselor in public schools in
this state or for or in schools that serve primarily public school students
with disabilities, which are considered public schools for the purposes of this
section. The Arizona board of regents, in consultation with eligible
postsecondary institutions, shall develop and implement centralized
administrative processes for the academy, including:

1. A marketing and promotion plan to
recruit students for the academy.

2. Data collection and reporting.

3. Tracking postgraduation service
requirements.

4. Distributing monies in the Arizona
school mental health professionals academy fund between eligible postsecondary
institutions.

5. Collecting reimbursement from
individuals who fail to meet service obligations.

B. The academy may include new or
existing school psychologist, school social worker and school counselor
preparation program pathways that are student-focused and that employ
proven, research-based models of best practices already being
implemented. Each eligible postsecondary institution may develop a
portfolio of preparation programs to offer as part of the
academy. The academy shall include graduate programs that satisfy
the eligibility criteria for the standard school psychologist certificate and
the standard school counseling certificate and all graduate programs in social
work.� The academy may not include doctoral programs. Programs
offered as part of the academy shall include accelerated models for Critical
need areas, including low-income public schools, public schools located on
Indian reservations, rural public schools and schools that serve primarily
public school students with disabilities.

C. Each eligible postsecondary
institution shall develop partnerships with public schools in this state to
build commitments for school psychologist, school social worker and school
counselor employment on completion of the academy. The targeted deployment of
academy graduates shall be based on the needs of each school system and the
community that is being served as well as the individual skills of each
graduate.

D. Each eligible postsecondary
institution shall provide to each student who is enrolled in the academy an
annual scholarship up to the actual cost of tuition and fees for a maximum of
three academic years or six semesters for graduate university students and up
to the actual cost of obtaining a school psychology, school social work or
school counseling certificate, including the actual cost of the exam, after all
other financial gifts, aid or grants received by that student.� Scholarships under
this subsection are subject to all of the following:

1. If the student does not successfully
complete the academic year in good academic standing, the student shall
reimburse the Arizona board of regents for the total amount of the scholarship
for tuition and fees the student received for that year.

2. For each academic year that the
student successfully completes and for which the student receives a scholarship
for all tuition and fees, the student must agree to work as a school
psychologist, school social worker or school counselor for one full school year
in a public school in this state.� For students who are working as a school
psychologist, school social worker or school counselor and receiving the
scholarship concurrently, the service obligation period begins after the
student's graduation from the academy.

3. If a student enrolls in a summer
term, that term may not be included in the calculation of the student's
postgraduation service obligation.

4. If the scholarship does not cover
remaining tuition and fee costs after other aid received, the eligible
postsecondary institution may not charge students the remaining difference.� If
the scholarship amount exceeds tuition and fee costs at an eligible
postsecondary institution, the eligible postsecondary institution may use the
remaining amount to support the academy costs.

5. If the student does not fulfill
the student's service obligation, the student must reimburse the Arizona board
of regents for the proportional amount of the scholarship for tuition and fees
that the student received that corresponds to the number of school years
remaining in the student's service obligation.

6. If the student is physically or
mentally unable to fulfill the requirements of the academy, the Arizona board
of regents shall establish a process for assessing the student's ability to
repay the financial assistance received and shall determine any terms of
repayment.

7. The Arizona board of regents shall
establish a process for deferring service or repayment based on factors adopted
by the board.

E. The Arizona school mental health
professionals academy fund is established consisting of legislative
appropriations made for the purpose of administering the Arizona school mental
health professionals academy. Monies in the fund are continuously appropriated
and are exempt from the provisions of section 35-190 relating to lapsing
of appropriations. The Arizona board of regents shall administer the
fund and shall establish criteria for distributing monies in the fund to
eligible postsecondary institutions each fiscal year to fund the costs of the
academy.� Monies in the fund may be used only for:

1. Reimbursing academy scholarships
that cover the balance of tuition and fees for graduate students who are
enrolled in the academy after all other gifts and aid received.

2. Implementing a marketing and
promotion plan to recruit and retain students in the academy with particular
emphasis on administering the academy and ensuring that participants reflect
the diversity of this state's student population. Annual
expenditures for marketing, promoting and administering the academy may not
exceed three percent of the monies in the fund each fiscal year.

F. Monies remaining in the fund at
the end of each fiscal year may be used by eligible postsecondary institutions
for academy costs in the next fiscal year.

G. On or before March 1, 2027 and
each year thereafter, the Arizona board of regents shall report to the joint
legislative budget committee and the governor's office of strategic planning
and budgeting on all of the following:

1. The total number of students
enrolled in the academy at each eligible postsecondary institution in the
current academic year.

2. The estimated amount of monies
committed from the fund in the current fiscal year.

H. On or before September 1 each
year, the Arizona board of regents shall report to the governor, the president
of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives, and shall submit
a copy to the secretary of state, on all of the following:

1. The total number of students
enrolled in the academy at each eligible postsecondary institution by year of
college enrollment.

2. The percentage of students who
completed each year of the academy and who plan to continue to the subsequent
year, delineated by each preparation program offered by each eligible
postsecondary institution as part of the academy.

3. The number of school
psychologists, school social workers and school counselors who completed a
program through the academy at each eligible postsecondary institution.

4. The number of school
psychologists, school social workers and school counselors currently working in
a public school in this state as part of an agreement for receiving an academy
scholarship.

5. The number of students who have
defaulted on their service obligations and who are in repayment agreements.

6. The number of students who have
deferred repayment agreements.

7. The number of students who have
completed repayment agreements.

8. The methodology for distributing
any monies appropriated for the academy to each eligible postsecondary
institution and the amounts distributed to each.

9. The amount of unused monies in the
Arizona school mental health professionals academy fund from the prior fiscal
year.

I. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Eligible postsecondary
institution" means A university under the jurisdiction of the Arizona
board of regents.

2. "School that serves primarily
public school students with disabilities" means a school in which more
than seventy-five percent of the students enrolled in the school are
public school students who are placed at the school according to an agreement
with a school, a charter school or the Arizona state schools for the deaf and
the blind.

3. "Tuition and fees" means
tuition, mandatory fees and program fees that are associated with a program in
the academy leading to school psychologist, school social worker or school
counselor certification and that are charged by an eligible postsecondary
institution.

END_STATUTE

Sec. 2.
Appropriation;
Arizona school mental health professionals academy fund

The sum of $__________ is appropriated
from the state general fund in fiscal year 2026-2027 to the Arizona school
mental health professionals academy fund established by section 15-1655.01,
Arizona Revised Statutes, as added by this act.