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H680 • 2025

An Act relative to mental health counselors in schools

An Act relative to mental health counselors in schools

Education
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Estela A. Reyes
Last action
2026-01-15
Official status
Referred to Joint Committee on Education
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act relative to mental health counselors in schools

An Act relative to mental health counselors in schools By Representative Reyes of Lawrence, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.

What This Bill Does

  • An Act relative to mental health counselors in schools By Representative Reyes of Lawrence, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
  • 680) of Estela A.
  • Reyes relative to mental health counselors in public schools.
  • Education.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-01-15 House

    Reporting date extended to Wednesday, March 18, 2026

  2. 2025-11-20 Joint

    Hearing scheduled for 12/02/2025 from 01:00 PM-02:00 PM in A-2

  3. 2025-10-09 Joint

    Hearing scheduled for 10/14/2025 from 11:00 AM-05:00 PM in Gardner Auditorium

  4. 2025-02-27 House

    Referred to the committee on Education

  5. 2025-02-27 Senate

    Senate concurred

Official Summary Text

An Act relative to mental health counselors in schools
By Representative Reyes of Lawrence, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 680) of Estela A. Reyes relative to mental health counselors in public schools. Education.
Status:
Referred to Joint Committee on Education

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
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Bill H.680

Chapter 71 of the General Laws, as amended by section 219 of chapter 238 of the acts of 2024, is here by further amended by adding the following section:

Section 102. (a) For the purpose of this section, the following terms shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:

“School mental health counselor”, a person licensed or eligible for licensure as a mental health counselor under section 165 of chapter 112.

“School psychologist”, a person licensed or eligible for licensure as a licensed educational psychologist under section 165 of chapter 112 who has been certified as a school psychologist by the department of education.

(b) Subject to appropriation, each public school shall employ school mental health counselors or school psychologist that have been granted by the commissioner a provisional or standard certificate of employment, pursuant to section 38G, for grades 3 to 12. During the school year, a school mental health counselor or school psychologist shall have at least 1 meeting with each student to ensure that the student: (i) is aware the counselor or psychologist is available to them; (ii) becomes familiar with the counselor or psychologist; and (iii) understands that the counselor or psychologist is accessible to them for whenever they may need.

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