According to Texas Education Code Section 33.005- A school counselor shall work with the school faculty and staff, students, parents, and the community to plan, implement, and evaluate a comprehensive school counseling program that conforms to the most recent edition of the Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs developed by the Texas Counseling Association.
State law requires school counselors to provide the following services as part of a Comprehensive School Counseling Program:
A guidance curriculum to help students develop their full educational potential, including the student's interests and career objectives.
A responsive services component to intervene on behalf of any student whose immediate personal concerns or problems put the student's continued educational, career, personal, or social development at risk.
An individual planning system to guide a student as the student plans, monitors, and manages the student's own educational, career, personal, and social development.
System support to support the efforts of teachers, staff, parents, and other members of the community in promoting the educational, career, personal, and social development of students.
School counselors routinely provide the following services:
Advise students and their parents regarding the importance of postsecondary education, coursework designed to prepare students for postsecondary education, and financial aid availability and requirements;
Early mental health prevention and intervention;
Building skills related to managing emotions, establishing and maintaining positive relationships, and responsible decision-making;
Substance abuse prevention and intervention;
Suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention;
Grief-informed and trauma-informed practices;
Positive school climates, meaning the quality and character of school life, including interpersonal relationships, teaching and learning practices, and organizational structures, as experienced by students enrolled in the District, parents of those students, and personnel employed by the District;
Positive behavior interventions and supports;
Positive youth development; and
Safe, supportive, and positive school climate.
