1. The Department shall, to the extent money is available, establish a statewide framework for providing and coordinating integrated student supports for pupils enrolled in public schools and the families of such pupils. The statewide framework must:

(a) Establish minimum standards for the provision of integrated student supports by school districts and charter schools. Such standards must be designed to allow a school district or charter school the flexibility to address the unique needs of the pupils enrolled in the school district or charter school.

(b) Establish a protocol for providing and coordinating integrated student supports. Such a protocol must be designed to:

(1) Support a school-based approach to promoting the success of all pupils by establishing a means to identify barriers to academic achievement and educational attainment of all pupils and methods for intervening and providing integrated student supports which are coordinated to reduce those barriers, including, without limitation, methods for:

(I) Engaging the parents and guardians of pupils;

(II) Assessing the social, emotional and academic development of pupils;

(III) Attaining appropriate behavior from pupils; and

(IV) Screening, intervening and monitoring the social, emotional and academic progress of pupils;

(2) Encourage the provision of education in a manner that is centered around pupils and their families and is culturally and linguistically appropriate;

(3) Encourage providers of integrated student supports to collaborate to improve academic achievement and educational attainment, including, without limitation, by:

(I) Engaging in shared decision-making;

(II) Establishing a referral process that reduces duplication of services and increases efficiencies in the manner in which barriers to academic achievement and educational attainment are addressed by such providers; and

(III) Establishing productive working relationships between such providers;

(4) Encourage collaboration between the Department and local educational agencies to develop training regarding:

(I) Best practices for providing integrated student supports;

(II) Establishing effective integrated student support teams comprised of persons or governmental entities providing integrated student supports;

(III) Effective communication between providers of integrated student supports; and

(IV) Compliance with applicable state and federal law; and

(5) Support statewide and local organizations in their efforts to provide leadership, coordination, technical assistance, professional development and advocacy to improve access to integrated student supports and expand upon existing integrated student supports that address the physical, emotional and educational needs of pupils.

(c) Include integration and coordination across school- and community-based providers of integrated student support services through the establishment of partnerships and systems that support this framework.

(d) Establish accountability standards for each administrator of a school to ensure the provision and coordination of integrated student supports.

2. The board of trustees of each school district and the governing body of each charter school shall:

(a) Annually conduct a needs assessment for pupils enrolled in the school district or charter school, as applicable, to identify the academic and nonacademic supports needed within the district or charter school. The board of trustees of a school district or the governing body of a charter school shall be deemed to have satisfied this requirement if the board of trustees or the governing body has conducted such a needs assessment for the purpose of complying with any provision of federal law or any other provision of state law that requires the board of trustees or governing body to conduct such a needs assessment.

(b) Ensure that mechanisms for data-driven decision-making are in place and the academic progress of pupils for whom integrated student supports have been provided is tracked.

(c) Ensure integration and coordination between providers of integrated student supports.

(d) To the extent money is available, ensure that pupils have access to social workers, mental health workers, counselors, psychologists, nurses, speech-language pathologists, audiologists and other school-based specialized instructional support personnel or community-based medical or behavioral providers of health care.

3. Any request for proposals issued by a local educational agency for integrated student supports must include provisions requiring a provider of integrated student supports to comply with the protocol established by the Department pursuant to subsection 1.

4. As used in this section, “integrated student support” means any measure designed to assist a pupil in:

(a) Improving his or her academic achievement and educational attainment and maintaining stability and positivity in his or her life; and

(b) His or her social, emotional and academic development.

(Added to NRS by 2017, 1156; A 2019, 3246)