A parent who asks the school what its plan is for a suicidal student is not asking for a favour. In California the plan is a statutory document, adopted at a regularly scheduled board meeting, and you are entitled to read it.
The short answer: yes. "The governing board or body of a local educational agency that serves pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, shall, before the beginning of the 2017–18 school year, adopt, at a regularly scheduled meeting, a policy on pupil suicide prevention in grades 7 to 12, inclusive," "developed in consultation with school and community stakeholders, school-employed mental health professionals, and suicide prevention experts."¹ Agencies serving kindergarten through grade 6 had to adopt an age-appropriate one before the beginning of the 2020–21 school year.¹ The policy "shall, at a minimum, address procedures relating to suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention," and "shall specifically address the needs of high-risk groups" — among them "Youth bereaved by suicide," "Youth with disabilities, mental illness, or substance use disorders," "Youth experiencing homelessness or youth in out-of-home settings, such as foster care," and "Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning youth."¹ It must address any suicide-awareness training the agency provides to teachers — training itself is encouraged, not mandated — and training materials "shall include how to identify appropriate mental health services, both at the schoolsite and within the larger community, and when and how to refer youth and their families to those services."¹ The board must "review, at minimum every fifth year, its policy on pupil suicide prevention."¹ Two companion duties: since 1 July 2025, a school serving grades 7 to 12 that issues pupil ID cards must print "the number for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline" on them;² and every public and charter school must tell pupils and parents, "no less than twice during the school year," "how to initiate access to available pupil mental health services on campus or in the community, or both."³
What the policy must contain
The statute sets a floor, not a template. Three words define it — "prevention, intervention, and postvention" — meaning what the school does before a crisis, during one, and after a death.¹ The policy must name the groups the Legislature judged to be at higher risk and say what it does for each: young people bereaved by suicide; those with disabilities, mental illness or substance use disorders; those who are homeless or in foster care or other out-of-home settings; and LGBTQ youth.¹ And it must address "any training on suicide awareness and prevention to be provided to teachers of pupils in all of the grades served by the local educational agency," with materials that tell staff where the mental health services are and how to refer a student and family to them.¹ The statute encourages, but does not itself require, that such training be given.¹
For the younger grades, the policy must be "age appropriate" and "delivered and discussed in a manner that is sensitive to the needs of young pupils."¹
The two dates
- Grades 7–12: adopted "before the beginning of the 2017–18 school year," under the 2016 statute.¹
- Kindergarten to grade 6: adopted "before the beginning of the 2020–21 school year," under the 2019 amendment.¹
If your district serves those grades, the policy exists — or the district is out of compliance with a statute a decade old. Ask for it by name: "the pupil suicide prevention policy adopted under Education Code section 215." It was adopted at a regularly scheduled meeting, so it is a board policy, usually numbered, usually online.
The number on the card
Since 1 July 2025, "the number for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline" must be printed on pupil identification cards issued by "a public school, including a charter school, or a private school that serves pupils in any of grades 7 to 12, inclusive, and that issues pupil identification cards"; a QR code to county mental health resources is optional, and from 1 July 2026 public and charter schools must also print The Trevor Project's LGBTQ+ line — the phone number and the text line.² A school that had non-compliant cards in stock on 1 July 2025 must issue those until the supply runs out.² Colleges and universities have had a similar duty since 2019 to print the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number, 1-800-273-8255, with public colleges adding The Trevor Project line from 1 July 2026.² Text or call 988 →
The twice-a-year notice
"A school of a school district or county office of education and a charter school shall notify pupils and parents or guardians of pupils" "no less than twice during the school year on how to initiate access to available pupil mental health services on campus or in the community, or both."³ The statute lists how — for parents, at least two of: a letter (electronic or by post), the parent handbook at the start of the year, or the school's website or social media; for pupils, at least two of: a document or publication, the student orientation materials or handbook, or the website or social media.³ If you cannot remember receiving one, that is worth saying at the next board meeting.
What to do with the policy
Read the intervention section first. It should tell you who is notified when a student expresses suicidal thoughts at school, who assesses, whether and how parents are called, and what happens before the student returns. Then read the postvention section: what the school does for classmates after a death. If the policy names a school counselor or psychologist as the assessor, that is the person to ask about your child's plan. Can a school counselor tell my parents? → · When anxiety or depression is wrecking school: 504 plan, IEP, or both →
A policy is a promise on paper. The people who make it real are the counselor, the nurse and the teacher who has had the training. Ask who in the building has done it.
Worked example
A parent whose eighth-grader has been talking about death at home writes to the principal: "Please send me the district's pupil suicide prevention policy under Education Code section 215, and tell me who on campus assesses a student who expresses suicidal thoughts." The district must have adopted such a policy before 2017–18;¹ the policy must address intervention procedures and training;¹ and the twice-yearly notice should already have told the family how to reach campus mental health services.³ The reply names a school psychologist and a re-entry meeting procedure — and the parent now has a written process to hold the school to.
Q&A
Q: Our district is small. Does it still apply? A: The duty falls on the "governing board or body of a local educational agency" serving the grades named — districts, county offices of education and charter schools alike.¹ ³
Q: My child is in a private school. A: Section 215 binds local educational agencies. The ID-card rule reaches private schools serving grades 7 to 12 that issue pupil ID cards.² Ask a private school for its policy anyway.
Q: The policy is ten years old. A: The board must "review, at minimum every fifth year, its policy on pupil suicide prevention and, if necessary, update its policy."¹ Every district was also required to review and update its policy against the state's model policy by 1 January 2025, and to add crisis intervention protocols at its next regular review after 1 July 2026 — so a policy untouched since 2017 is out of compliance on more than one ground.¹ Ask when it was last reviewed.
Q: Can the school stop my child coming back after an attempt? A: The policy's intervention and re-entry procedures should say what happens; a student with a disability has separate protections against changes in placement. My child with an IEP was suspended: the manifestation determination →
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Sources
- Cal. Education Code §215 — (a)(1) "The governing board or body of a local educational agency that serves pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, shall, before the beginning of the 2017–18 school year, adopt, at a regularly scheduled meeting, a policy on pupil suicide prevention in grades 7 to 12, inclusive," which "shall be developed in consultation with school and community stakeholders, school-employed mental health professionals, and suicide prevention experts and shall, at a minimum, address procedures relating to suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention"; (a)(3) the high-risk groups, "The policy shall specifically address the needs of high-risk groups, including, but not limited to, all of the following," as quoted; (a)(4)(A) "The policy shall also address any training on suicide awareness and prevention to be provided to teachers of pupils in all of the grades served by the local educational agency," (a)(4)(E) agencies "are encouraged to provide suicide awareness and prevention training," and (a)(4)(B) "Materials approved by a local educational agency for training shall include how to identify appropriate mental health services, both at the schoolsite and within the larger community, and when and how to refer youth and their families to those services"; (a)(2)(A)–(B) the kindergarten-to-grade-6 policy "before the beginning of the 2020–21 school year," "age appropriate" and "delivered and discussed in a manner that is sensitive to the needs of young pupils"; (b)(1) "shall review, at minimum every fifth year, its policy on pupil suicide prevention and, if necessary, update its policy"; (b)(3) the review and update against the Department of Education's model policy "On or before January 1, 2025"; (b)(4) crisis intervention protocols at the next regularly scheduled review on or after 1 July 2026 — california.public.law. Added by AB 2246 (Stats. 2016, Ch. 642); amended by AB 1767 (Stats. 2019, Ch. 694), after which the kindergarten-to-grade-6 duty appears in the section — legiscan.com, legiscan.com.
- Cal. Education Code §215.5 (operative 1 July 2025) — (a)(1) "a public school, including a charter school, or a private school that serves pupils in any of grades 7 to 12, inclusive, and that issues pupil identification cards" must print "the number for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline"; the optional QR code to county mental health resources; (a)(4) from 1 July 2026 "a public school, including a charter school" must print The Trevor Project's LGBTQ+ suicide hotline, "Telephone number: 1-866-488-7386" and "Text line, which can be accessed by texting START to 678-678"; (b)(1) institutions of higher education, since 1 July 2019, "The telephone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255," and (b)(3) The Trevor Project line for public institutions from 1 July 2026; (c)(2) a school with non-compliant cards on hand as of 1 July 2025 "shall issue those pupil identification cards until that supply is depleted"; "This section shall become operative on July 1, 2025" — california.public.law.
- Cal. Education Code §49428(a) — "A school of a school district or county office of education and a charter school shall notify pupils and parents or guardians of pupils" "no less than twice during the school year on how to initiate access to available pupil mental health services on campus or in the community, or both," and the listed methods for parents and for pupils — california.public.law.
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