Does an Arizona school's web-based emoji feature that asks 'How are you feeling?' count as a 'survey' that requires written parental consent under A.R.S. § 15-117?

Plain-English summary

Casa Grande Union High School District wanted to use Gnosis IQ, a web-based academic platform that includes an optional feature asking students "How are you feeling?" and letting them pick from twelve emojis (happy, confident, excited, content, bored, confused, mad, sad, stressed, sick, tired, depressed). The District's lawyer asked whether that feature counts as a "survey" subject to A.R.S. § 15-117's parental-consent requirement.

Attorney General Kris Mayes concluded it does not. A.R.S. § 15-117(A) requires written informed parental consent before a school administers any "survey that solicits personal information" about specified topics, including "medical history or medical information" (A)(6) and "mental health history or mental health information" (A)(7). The AG read "mental health information" as healthcare-related information, citing a dictionary definition, its proximity to "medical information" in the statute, and HIPAA’s use of the term. The described question asks about a student’s present general emotional state rather than mental healthcare information.

The opinion did concede that "instrument" in the statute is broad enough to cover the emoji feature, and found that the question did not investigate the listed topics or solicit the specified personal information. Reading the statute to require written parental consent every time a teacher asks "How are you today?" would be absurd, and Arizona courts avoid absurd statutory readings.

What this means for you

If you are a school district administrator or attorney

The opinion addresses the described Gnosis IQ feature: an optional question asking “How are you feeling?” with twelve emoji responses. The AG concluded it was not a survey requiring consent under A.R.S. § 15-117. Compare any different question with the statute’s listed topics before relying on that conclusion.

If you are a parent

The District reported that parents could view their child’s responses through a portal and disable the feature. The opinion held that this feature was outside the statute’s survey consent rule and therefore did not decide whether the District’s draft consent form was sufficient.

Common questions

Q: What does A.R.S. § 15-117 require?
A: At the time of the opinion, schools had to "obtain written informed consent" from a student's parent before administering "any survey that solicits personal information" about the student related to fourteen listed topics, which included political beliefs, religious practices, sexual behavior, illegal conduct, gun ownership, and mental and medical history.

Q: Why is "mental health information" read narrowly?
A: The AG cited four reasons. The statute lists "mental health information" right next to "medical history or medical information," which supports a healthcare-related meaning. HIPAA uses "mental health information" to refer to records such as psychotherapy notes and treatment plans. Merriam-Webster's two definitions include both a "general condition of mental and emotional state" reading and a healthcare-system reading; the surrounding statutory context favors the second. And a broad reading would require parental consent for any teacher asking how a student feels, which is absurd.

Q: Is the emoji check-in an 'instrument'?
A: Yes. The AG used the dictionary definition ("a means whereby something is achieved, performed, or furthered"). The emoji feature is the means by which the platform acquires information about the student's emotional state, so it is an instrument. But being an instrument was not enough: the question did not investigate the listed attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, experiences, opinions or thoughts about a particular subject.

Q: Does it matter that the feature is opt-in and parents can disable it?
A: Not for the legal analysis under § 15-117. The AG held the feature is not a covered survey at all, so the consent regime never applies. The opinion describes those features as background but bases its conclusion on the question’s content.

Background and statutory framework

A.R.S. § 15-117(A) requires written informed parental consent before administering a survey that solicits personal information on listed topics. Subsection (O)(2)(a) defines “survey” as an instrument that investigates a pupil’s attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, experiences, opinions or thoughts. The AG treated the emoji feature as an instrument but found that its question about a present general emotional state did not solicit information about the listed subjects.

For the closest listed subject, mental health information, the opinion used the wording and placement of subsection (A)(7), dictionary definitions, and HIPAA’s use of the term to read it as healthcare-related information. It also reasoned that requiring consent for an ordinary question such as “How are you today?” would be an absurd reading.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• A.R.S. § 15-117(A), (A)(6)–(7), (O)(2)(a)
• HIPAA, Pub. L. 104-19, 110 Stat. 1936

Cases:

• State v. Mahaney, 193 Ariz. 566 (App. 1999)
• Sierra Tucson, Inc. v. Pima Cnty., 178 Ariz. 215 (App. 1994)
• Stambaugh v. Killian, 242 Ariz. 508 (2017)
• State v. Estrada, 201 Ariz. 247 (2001)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.azag.gov/opinions/i23-006-r22-013
• Original PDF: https://www.azag.gov/sites/default/files/2025-06/CORRECTEDI23-006.pdf

Original opinion text

To:

Jessica S. Sanchez, Udall Shumway
on behalf of Casa Grande Union High School District

Question Presented

You have asked whether a feature of a web-based academic performance platform that allows students to report their present emotional state via selection of an emoji constitutes a "survey" subject to parental consent requirements under A.R.S. § 15-117. You have also asked whether, if parental consent is required, the submitted draft consent form satisfies the statute's requirements.

Summary Answer

The emoji feature does not constitute a survey subject to the parental consent requirements of A.R.S. § 15-117. Accordingly, we need not address whether the draft consent form satisfies the requirements of the statute.

Background

Casa Grande Union High School District ("the District") has considered using a web-based platform, the Gnosis IQ program, to "gain real-time insight" into students' academic performance through the use of scorecards and dynamic reports. A feature of the platform asks students the question "How are you feeling?" and allows them to report their current emotional state by selecting one of twelve emojis [1] reflecting the following emotions: happy, confident, excited, content, bored, confused, mad, sad, stressed, sick, tired, and depressed. The District reports that this feature is intended as a social-emotional support to encourage students to self-reflect and assist schools in identifying students who may have social-emotional factors affecting their academic performance. A student's use of the emoji feature would be optional and parents would be able to access their child's responses to it, along with the student's academic progress, through a parent portal. Parents also would have the ability to disable the feature at any time through the portal.

Analysis

Arizona law requires schools to "obtain written informed consent" from a student's parent "before administering any survey that solicits personal information" about the student related to several listed topics, including gun ownership, political beliefs, religious practices, and medical and mental health history and information. A.R.S. § 15-117(A). The statute defines a "survey" as "an instrument that investigates the attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, experiences, opinions or thoughts of a pupil or group of pupils." A.R.S. § 15-117(O)(2)(a).

First, we must determine whether the emoji reporting feature is an "instrument." This term is not statutorily defined, so we apply its commonly understood meaning. See State v. Mahaney, 193 Ariz. 566, 568 ¶ 12 (App. 1999) (“Unless the legislature clearly expresses an intent to give a term a special meaning, we give the words used in statutes their plain and ordinary meaning.”). “[T]he ordinary meaning [of a word] can be found by referring to an established, widely respected dictionary.” Sierra Tucson, Inc. v. Pima Cnty., 178 Ariz. 215, 219 (App. 1994). An instrument is broadly defined as "a means whereby something is achieved, performed, or furthered." Instrument, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/instrument (last visited Aug. 3, 2023). Because the emoji feature is the means by which the platform acquires information about the student's emotional state, it is an instrument.

Next, we must determine whether the question ("How are you feeling") "investigates" a student's "attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, experiences, opinions or thoughts" by "solicit[ing] personal information about the pupil" about one of the listed topics. A.R.S. § 15-117(A), (O). It does not. The question "How are you feeling" asks about a student's general emotional state. It does not ask students to provide personal information about the student's attitudes, beliefs, experiences, opinions, or thoughts regarding a particular subject, much less any of the topics listed in subsections (A)(1) through (14).

The closest listed topic to a question about a student's current emotional state is "mental health information." A.R.S. § 15-117(A)(7). The Merriam-Webster Dictionary provides two alternate definitions of "mental health." https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mental%20health (last visited Aug. 3, 2023). The first is “the condition of being sound mentally and emotionally that is characterized by the absence of mental illness and by adequate adjustment especially as reflected in feeling comfortable about oneself, positive feelings about others, and the ability to meet the demands of daily life[;] the general condition of one’s mental and emotional state.” The second is "health care dealing with the promotion and improvement of mental health and the treatment of mental illness." The second definition often applies when the term is "used before another noun," such as in "mental health professionals" or "mental health clinic." Id.

In the context of a survey collecting information on "mental health history or mental health information," the second definition is the most applicable. The statutory provision includes the additional nouns of "history" and "information" after the term "mental health," indicating the term is likely being used to reference healthcare related to mental health issues. A.R.S. § 15-117(A)(7). Also, "[m]ental health history or mental health information" is listed in the statute directly below "[m]edical history or medical information." See id. § 15-117(A)(6)–(7). The proximity and similar structure of these two related terms further supports the interpretation that "mental health information" refers to “health care dealing with the promotion and improvement of mental health.” See Stambaugh v. Killian, 242 Ariz. 508, 509–10 ¶¶ 7, 11 (2017) (“Words in statutes should be read in context in determining their meaning.”).

The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA"), Pub. L. 104-19, 110 Stat. 1936, also protects access to healthcare information and uses the term "mental health information" to refer to records such as psychotherapy notes, treatment plans, and prescriptions for psychiatric medications. U.S. Dep’t of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, HIPAA Privacy Rule and Sharing Information Related to Mental Health, https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/hipaa-privacy-rule-and-sharing-info-related-to-mental-health.pdf at 1-2 (last visited Aug. 3, 2023). Under HIPAA, parents have certain rights over their child's mental health information, and are generally considered to be the personal representative of their minor child. See U.S. Dep’t of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, HIPAA Privacy Rule and Sharing Information Related to Mental Health, https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/hipaa-privacy-rule-and-sharing-info-related-to-mental-health.pdf at 4 (last visited Aug. 3, 2023). It makes sense then that § 15-117(A)(7) would require parental consent before a school official may ask a student about their private mental healthcare information. See Sierra Tucson, 178 Ariz. at 221 (looking to “nearly congruent” statute to help determine “common, ordinary meaning” of statutory term).

In contrast, a student's present emotional state alone does not implicate the same privacy concerns, as students convey this information regularly (and even unwittingly) through conversation, facial expressions, and body language. It would make little sense, for example, to require a teacher to obtain written parental consent every time they wished to ask a student "How are you today?" Surely this is not what the legislature intended. Such a reading would be absurd, and courts avoid statutory interpretations that create absurd results. See State v. Estrada, 201 Ariz. 247, 251 ¶ 17 (2001) (“A result is ‘absurd if it is so irrational, unnatural, or inconvenient that it cannot be supposed to have been within the intention of persons with ordinary intelligence and discretion.’” (citation omitted)).

Accordingly, the Gnosis IG emoji feature allowing reporting of a student's current emotional state is not a survey soliciting "mental health information" for purposes of § 15-117.

Conclusion

The Gnosis IQ emoji reporting feature is not a survey subject to the parental consent requirements of A.R.S. § 15-117.

Kris Mayes
Attorney General

Footnotes

[1] The request indicates that the platform uses “emoticons,” but based on the materials submitted with the request, it appears that the platform utilizes “emojis.” “An emoticon is a sequence of keyboard characters used to illustrate a facial expression (or to render some kind of picture or symbol), such as : ) for a smile, : ( for a frown, XD for a laughing face, or O O for surprise. An emoji is a small image used alongside or in place of text.” emoticon vs. emoji: What’s the difference? Dictionary.com, https://www.dictionary.com/compare-words/emoticon-vs-emoji?root=emoticon (last visited Aug. 3, 2023).