Health Policies
The NASBE State Policy Database on School Health is a searchable database of all existing state statutory and regulatory language on student health aligned to components of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s framework for school health promotion, known as the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model.
About Our Methodology
This database covers codified and noncodified policies enacted as of September 2019 in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands that applied to public schools and the general education population. Our rubric captures 200 health education topics aligned to the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model.
About the WSCC Model
The WSCC model defines 10 important areas of a healthy school. Combined, these elements provide a road map for comprehensive policymaking that fully supports students’ well-being.
Hot Topics
This analysis highlights state action examples, identifies multipronged approaches to youth suicide prevention, and discusses federal funding opportunities available to states to support peer-to-peer programming.
Every state had at least some shifts in codified healthy schools policy from 2017 to 2019. This brief and the accompanying state profiles identifies important trends and areas that may continue to require attention in future years.
This analysis reviews current school vaccination laws and exemptions, with implications for COVID-19 vaccination-related requirements and pending state legislation.