FRANKFORT, Ky. — Two Kentucky students are leading an effort to get excused school absences for mental health days.

Kameron Julian is a junior at duPont Manual High School in Louisville who said some students have struggled adjusting to life during the pandemic.

"I know a lot of kids and high schoolers and teenagers were having a little bit of mental health problems with COVID-19 and not being able to see their friends," she said. 

She and others in a JCPS club had previously discussed the idea of mental health days. That's why Julian created a proposal to add language to her school’s attendance policy, she said. 

After contacting lawmakers, Julian got connected with Rep. Lisa Willner (D, Louisville), a licensed psychologist. 

"This initiative is so important because it sends a message that your mental health is as important as your physical health, that you know we don’t walk around like part mind, part body, we’re all connected," she said. "Our mental health, our physical health are completely intertwined." 

Willner and Rep. Bobby McCool (R, Van Lear) have co-sponsored bipartisan legislation that says a local school district’s attendance policy "shall include provisions for excused absences due to a student’s mental or behavioral health status." 

"Bipartisan is critical," McCool said. "It's not Democrat or Republican, it’s about mental health and the wellbeing of our people."

Cole Butcher, a sophomore at Johnson Central High School in McCool’s Eastern Kentucky district, has also been pushing for the change.

"I really think this will have a big effect on getting rid of the stigma around mental health, and especially in rural and urban areas," he said. 

He and Julian are working together on the effort. 

"We’ve just been really passionate and really wanting to help the other kids who might need a day to collect themselves, collect their minds, just have a mental health day," Julian said. 

Willner said the proposal does not specify how districts should address mental health in their policies. The legislation is filed for the session beginning in January.