The Frederick County Board of Education is working to update its student health and wellness policy to address telehealth visits during school hours.
A state bill, House Bill 522, approved by Gov. Wes Moore in April 2024, requires all school districts in the state to implement a policy that governs telehealth appointments by the start of the 2025-26 school year.
The proposed updates to the policy include directing Frederick County Public Schools Superintendent Cheryl Dyson to create an accompanying regulation, which will be published when the policy is updated, according to the school district.
The regulation is meant to empower principals to make telehealth appointments available to students, make sure the disruption is limited, allow students equitable access and involve parents in the process.
This would allow students to attend telehealth visits — virtual appointments with health providers — during the school day in a specific room and with supervision, as well as with a parent or guardian.
FCPS would not have a role in giving care, only providing a space for students to access those services.
“We are really nothing more than providing the space and the access, not the direct contact,” Steven Blivess, chief legal counsel for FCPS, said at Wednesday’s school board meeting.
The telehealth appointments can be for mental health services or other medical services, if the provider can accommodate.
The policy is not intended to support weekly therapy or other sessions for students.
The proposed updates to the policy also include adding immunization and physical examination requirements that were taken out of Policy 420.
School board Policy 409, currently titled “Promotion of Health and Wellness — Students,” was adopted in 2006 and was last revised in 2018.
The school board on Wednesday unanimously approved moving the proposed updates to a second reading, which is final passage. The policy will be published if approved at the second reading, which is scheduled for the school board’s work session on Aug. 27.
FCPS’ school year begins on Aug. 20.
Blivess said on Wednesday that the school district will miss the state deadline by about a week, “but I think we’ll be OK with that.”
The school board also unanimously voted to decommission Policy 420 since all of its contents about immunization and physical examination were moved to other systemwide policies.
Blivess on Wednesday presented the policy and recommended updates to the school board.
He said it was also recommended to update the policy’s title to “Student Health and Wellness” to match the staff member-version of the policy.
Blivess said recent updates to state law, specifically Maryland Education Code §4-143, require the school district to make telehealth opportunities available during the school day.
“It was a big ask of the school system, and it required a great deal of work,” he said.
Blivess said the accompanying regulation, which has already been created by the Office of Student Services and Legal Services, will launch together with Policy 409.
Dana Falls, the director of student services for FCPS, said at the school board meeting that parents are required to establish the appointment.
He said that even though students 13 or older can legally access mental health services on their own, if the appointment occurs during the school day, it must be set up by a parent.
Additionally, Falls said, a parent must be present, either virtually with approval or in person.
He said with “some mental health supports, the student may not be ready to return to class and may not be able to, depending on how that session went with a provider and what topic they’re focused on.”
Blivess added that the healthcare provider has to supply the platform for the appointment. FCPS does not have its own platform for students to attend the telehealth appointments, but it can supply a school device if students need to use one.
He said it was preferred for students to use their own devices.
Falls said Maryland law stresses equitable access, and a student attending weekly telehealth sessions in school could have “a detrimental impact on their education,” as well as take limited time slots for other students.
