Participation in the Profiles survey is voluntary. However, the information collected is extremely valuable to the State of Texas. We use this information to obtain funding, target resources, plan professional development for school staff, and develop and implement policies and practices to improve student health. 

Education and health officials use Profiles data to: 

• Describe school health policies and practices 
• Compare them across jurisdictions 
• Identify professional development needs 
• Plan and monitor programs 
• Support health-related policies and legislation 
• Seek funding 
• Garner support for future surveys 

Child sexual abuse prevention specialists use Profiles data to: 

• Plan for training initiatives in schools 
• Look at gaps between what is being taught in schools and student knowledge 
• Strategize how to eradicate child sexual abuse in Texas 

You should select a staff person who is knowledgeable about instruction on health topics at your school. This person might not be a health education teacher—he or she could be a physical education teacher, the school nurse, or an assistant principal. 

Yes. Even if your school does not teach health education, some of the topics on the questionnaire might be covered in other classes such as physical education or science. Please have a staff person who is knowledgeable about instruction on health topics complete the questionnaire. If that person is not sure of an answer, he or she should consult with other people at your school. In addition, he or she should complete the questionnaire even if most of the responses are "no" — this is important information for our agency to know. 

You should still complete the questionnaire. Find someone at the school who can assist you in filling it out. This should be an individual who has been at the school for multiple school years. 

No. You should not complete the questionnaire. To help us with our record keeping, please return it with a note saying that none of these grades are taught at this school. We will mark your school as ineligible for the survey. 

If the question has “not applicable” as a possible response option, please answer using this option if the question does not apply to your school. For example, some questions ask about grades 6, 7, and 8, so if your school does not contain any of those grades, you would mark “not applicable.” However, if there is no “not applicable” response option and you think the question does not apply to your school, just leave that question blank. 

Thank you so much for completing the questionnaire. Please email us at YRBSS@dshs.texas.gov to let us know you completed the questionnaire and confirm we received it.