Parent Rights

TEC, §26.0083(g), requires each school district and open-enrollment charter school (school system) to provide the parent of each enrolled student before the first instructional day of each school year with written notice of each health-related service offered at the campus the student attends. The notice must include a statement of the parent’s right to withhold consent for or decline a health-related service. 

As a parent or guardian, you have the fundamental right to make decisions regarding the upbringing and control of your child. Our goal as a school is to be a supportive partner in that effort, providing effective academic instruction to maximize student learning. In service of that goal, we also work to support the general well-being of our students so they can remain academically focused. 

School personnel are always expected to encourage your child to discuss any issues related to their wellbeing with you. School personnel can also facilitate a conversation between you and your child about any issues related to their wellbeing. Furthermore, employees are expected to keep parents informed related to observations of their child’s mental, emotional, or physical health. You have the right to access your child’s education and health records at any time. 

As you might expect, teachers and other employees will periodically inquire about a child’s well-being, (e.g., asking how a student is feeling). In some cases, though, more formalized efforts may be appropriate, and if that is the case, our intent is to work in ways that are consistent with your goals as the parent. If school personnel determine that a student needs some additional structured observation – called monitoring – we will notify you. 

Our school offers a variety of health-related and health care services to each student. This notice is meant to inform you of all available health-related and health-care services we offer:

• Guidance- Guidance is a Tier 1 service offered to all students enrolled in Joshua ISD. Guidance consists of classroom lessons on Texas Education Code's positive character traits, Texas Comprehensive School Counseling Program guidance curriculum, & state mandated guidance including drug abuse, fentanyl poisoning awareness, suicide prevention, etc. Guidance may also be offered through classroom programming in classroom teacher lessons as well as through our partnerships with outside organizations.  To learn more about guidance in Joshua ISD, please visit the the JISD Texas Model Program Curriculum  webpage. In the cases where outside partners are providing lessons to students, additional parental consent will be required for the recordkeeping purposes of that outside partner organization. 

• Individual Planning- All JISD students may engage in individual planning with their counselor both directly & indirectly. Counselors may engage in individual planning for academic purposes, schedule planning & course selection, postsecondary planning, development of executive functioning skills, emotional regulation, etc. In circumstances where a counselor is meeting with a student to engage in on-going individual, direct services, the counselor will make parent contact & communicate the need for these services & seek parent permission.

• Responsive Services- Responsive services are not required for every student in JISD. Rather, Responsive Services respond to student needs, including crisis. Counselors may engage in responsive services when working with students who report suicidal ideation or self harm, students in need of basic life necessities such as food or clothing, & connecting students to outside service providers such as mental health specialists or community support programs. Counselors may refer families to service providers featured in our Community Resource Guide . When a student is in need of responsive services, counselors will contact the parent to make connections to outside resources however, parents always have the right to seek their own community resources. 

• Systems Support- Counselor engage in systems support in the planning & creation of counseling programming. When counselors are creating programming for their campus or engaging in district-wide initiatives, they may use time to pull resources, write lessons, contact parents, collaborate with teachers, etc. When new programming is planned, the district Coordinator of Counseling will seek the feedback and guidance of the counseling advisory council, which is enveloped within the district's SHAC members. 

This notice is meant to inform you of all available services, not necessarily to indicate all these services will be provided to your child. You have the right to withhold consent or decline the provision of any of these services to your child. Consent for services will be considered effective until the end of the school year unless you provide a change of your consent decisions during the year. We will attempt to notify you prior to initiating any proposed change in services provided to your student related to the student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or wellbeing. If prior notification is not possible, you will be notified within three school days. 

Before administering a well-being questionnaire or a health screening form to your child, a copy will be provided to you. Consent would have to be received by you for the school to move forward with administering the questionnaire or form.