Community School Boards of Oregon Opposes New SBHC Standards

Apr 30, 2026 | Education / Events/ News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: CSBO Team | CSBOteam@csbo.org | www.csbo.org

Community School Boards of Oregon Opposes New SBHC Standards: State-Mandated Minor Consent Services Have No Place in Public Schools

Portland, Oregon – April 25, 2026 – The Community School Boards of Oregon (CSBO) acknowledges that Oregon state law permits minors to consent to certain medical and behavioral health services in specific non-school settings. However, CSBO strongly opposes the Oregon Health Authority’s School-Based Health Centers Standards for Certification, Version 5 (updated October 2025) for embedding these services directly into public schools through state-certified School-Based Health Centers (SBHCs).

Under Section D.2 of the new standards, SBHCs must:

  • Ensure all students in the school are eligible for services.
  • Accept the consent of a minor who may lawfully consent under Oregon law (including ORS 109.640 and ORS 109.675).
  • Not deny services to a minor who has lawfully consented, even if a parent or guardian has failed to consent or has explicitly denied consent.

Oregon law already allows children as young as 14 to consent independently to outpatient mental health and chemical dependency treatment (ORS 109.675) without parental knowledge or consent. Children as young as 15 can consent to a broad range of medical, surgical, dental, and hospital care (ORS 109.640) without parental involvement. This includes powerful drugs and procedures for birth control, abortion, gender transition, and other medical treatments. When these cause side effects or other harm, parents are left completely unaware of the cause and in the dark about what is happening with their child.

While the state may mandate access to these services elsewhere, public schools are not the appropriate venue. When parents entrust their children to local public schools, they do so under the long-established legal doctrine of in loco parentis — the school acting temporarily in the place of the parent. Families reasonably expect schools to provide education and a safe learning environment while supporting, not undermining, parental authority over their child’s health and well-being. By facilitating confidential, sensitive healthcare services — including mental health treatment for 14-year-olds and powerful drugs for birth control, abortion, or gender transition for 15-year-olds — that bypass parents entirely, these standards betray that trust and transform public schools into venues that circumvent family decision-making.

“Parents, not the state or school-based clinics, are responsible for their children’s upbringing,” said a CSBO spokesperson. “We recognize the state has created pathways for minors as young as 14 or 15 to access certain services outside of school. But placing those services inside the school building — where parents have placed their children under the school’s temporary parental role — is an unacceptable overreach. It erodes parental rights and turns schools into something they were never meant to be.”

This policy conflicts with U.S. Supreme Court precedent protecting parental rights as fundamental under the Constitution. Most recently, in Mahmoud v. Taylor (2025), the Court reaffirmed parents’ constitutional right to direct the upbringing and care of their children. This builds on foundational rulings such as Troxel v. Granville (2000), Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925), and Meyer v. Nebraska (1923), which make clear that the state cannot override fit parents’ decisions absent compelling justification.

CSBO urges all Oregon school board members to:

  • Refuse to host or support SBHCs operating under these standards that bypass parental consent and notification.
  • Prioritize policies requiring parental involvement for all non-emergency health services provided to minors on school property.
  • Advocate at the state level to restore parental rights as the foundation of student health programs in public schools.

Local school boards, elected to represent their communities, must protect the trust parents place in them. CSBO stands ready to support boards with resources, model policies, and advocacy tools to defend parental rights and keep public schools focused on education — not on substituting for parental authority.

About Community School Boards of Oregon (CSBO) The Community School Boards of Oregon (CSBO) equips and promotes local school boards and parents/legal guardians to provide all students access to an excellent education founded in community support, local decisions, and parental rights. We believe school boards and parents must partner to ensure safe, healthy learning environments that reflect community values. For more information, visit www.csbo.org or email CSBOteam@csbo.org.