Bill Text: MS HB461 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: School guidance counselors; establish pilot program in certain school districts with high incidences of teen pregnancy or school violence.
Sponsorship: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-2)
Status: (Failed) 2012-03-06 - Died In Committee [HB461 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2012-HB461-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2012 Regular Session
To: Education; Appropriations
By: Representatives Clarke, Bailey, Broomfield, Burnett, Clark, Coleman (65th), Flaggs, Gardner, Harrison, Holloway, Horan, Martinson, Scott, Straughter, Thomas, Williams-Barnes
House Bill 461
AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION, ACTING JOINTLY WITH THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH AND THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, TO ESTABLISH A PUBLIC SCHOOLS' GUIDANCE COUNSELORS PILOT PROGRAM; TO REQUIRE THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES TO DETERMINE THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN WHICH THE PILOT PROGRAM WILL BE IMPLEMENTED; TO REQUIRE THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PILOT PROGRAM; TO PROHIBIT ANY EFFORT TO COUNSEL THAT ABORTION CAN BE USED TO PREVENT THE BIRTH OF A BABY; TO REQUIRE THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, WITH THE INPUT OF THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, TO SUBMIT A REPORT ON THE PILOT PROGRAM TO THE CHAIRMEN OF CERTAIN LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES BEFORE JANUARY 1, 2017; TO AMEND SECTION 37-9-79, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, IN CONFORMITY TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ACT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) (a) The State Board of Education shall establish and implement a public schools' guidance counselors pilot program to provide comprehensive counseling services as required under Section 37-9-79, in certain school districts with high incidences of teenage pregnancy and school violence in the State of Mississippi.
(b) The purpose of the pilot program shall be to evidence the effectiveness of the services provided by school guidance counselors in personal and social counseling, crisis intervention and prevention, conflict resolution and educational and career counseling in schools and school districts with counselors on staff, as opposed to those schools and school districts without guidance counselors on staff.
(2) (a) The State Department of Education, acting jointly with the State Department of Health and the Mississippi Department of Human Services shall analyze all data available to each department to select three (3) school districts throughout the state with high incidences of teenage pregnancy or high incidences of school violence to determine which districts would be impacted most positively by the public schools' guidance counselors pilot program.
(b) In making the selection, the departments shall identify those school districts having the highest incidences of teen pregnancies and school violence among students and shall consider other appropriate factors including, but not necessarily limited to, each school district's: dropout rate; the number of the students placed in the alternative school setting; urban or rural nature; geographical location; demographic profile; and state accreditation level.
(4) The public schools' guidance counselors pilot program shall be a four-year program and will be implemented in those school districts selected for participation in the program in the 2012-2013 school year. The program will be continued in the same school districts during the 2013-2014, 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school years. For the duration of the pilot program, the school district shall place a minimum of one (1) guidance counselor in each school in the district.
(5) At the end of each school year, the State Department of Education, the State Department of Health and the Mississippi Department of Human Services evaluate the effectiveness of the presence and availability of school guidance counselors in each school in reducing the rates of teen pregnancy or school violence.
(6) It shall be the responsibility of school guidance counselors employed by local school districts implementing the pilot program to carry out the functions of those strategies to promote consistency in the administration of the program and the provisions of Section 37-9-79.
(7) The State Board of Education, in overseeing the administration of the public schools' guidance counselors pilot program in those select school districts implementing the program and strategies developed by the State Department of Education, State Department of Health and the Mississippi Department of Human Services under this section, shall prohibit any effort of a counselor to counsel students that abortion can be used to prevent the birth of a baby.
(9) Before January 1, 2016, the State Department of Education, after consultation with the State Department of Health and the Mississippi Department of Human Services, shall submit a report to the Chairmen of the House and Senate Education Committees, the House Public Health and Human Services Committee and the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee on the results of the public schools' guidance counselors pilot program. The report must include comparative data on the numbers of pregnancies and incidences of school violence among students in the participating school districts before and during each year of the pilot program. The report also must include a recommendation on whether or not the public schools' guidance counselors pilot program should be implemented on a permanent basis in all or certain school districts of the state.
SECTION 2. Section 37-9-79, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-9-79. (1) Beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, the assignment of K-12 School Guidance Counselors to the particular schools within the district shall be at the discretion of the local school board with the following restrictions:
(a) No individual shall be employed as a school guidance counselor without a minimum of a Master's Degree in Guidance and Counseling, or in an emergency situation, an appropriate certification as determined by the Commission on Teacher and Administrator Education, Certification and Licensure and Development; and
(b) School guidance counselors shall provide the following comprehensive counseling services:
(i) Academic and personal/social counseling;
(ii) Student assessment and assessment counseling;
(iii) Career and educational counseling;
(iv) Individual and group counseling (large/small);
(v) Crisis intervention and preventive counseling;
(vi) Referrals to community agencies;
(vii) Educational consultations and collaboration with teachers, administrators, parents and community leaders;
(viii) Educational and career placement services;
(ix) Follow-up counseling services;
(x) Conflict resolution; and
(xi) Other counseling duties or other duties as assigned by the school principal.
(2) School guidance counselors shall abide by the American School Counselor Association Code of Ethics.
(3) The State Department of Education may adopt regulations regarding the activities of the school guidance counselor as are not inconsistent with this section.
(4) School guidance counselors employed by school districts implementing the pilot program authorized under Section 1 of this act shall adhere to minimum qualification requirements of this section, and shall carry out those functions implemented under the pilot program developed by the State Department of Education, the State Department of Health and the Mississippi Department of Human Services.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.
