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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>62383</law_id><section_number>22.1-291.1:1</section_number><catch_line>School counselors; staff time</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="22.1">Education</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="15">Teachers, Officers and Employees</unit><unit label="article" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="1">General Provisions</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="A"><p><span class="prefix-number">A.</span> As used in this section:
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Appraisal and advisement</span>&#x201D; means the act of assisting students in exploring their abilities, interests, skills, and achievement to make decisions and develop immediate and long-range goals and plans.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Consultation, collaboration, and referrals</span>&#x201D; means the act of (i) providing information to and receiving information from individuals or teams to support a student&#x2019;s needs; (ii) working and communicating with <span class="dictionary"><span class="dictionary">parents</span></span>, teachers, administrators, other school staff, and community stakeholders to (a) promote achievement for a specific student or (b) promote systemic change to address the needs of groups of underserved or underrepresented groups of students; and (iii) referring students to outside providers and resources as necessary.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Crisis counseling</span>&#x201D; means the act of providing counseling to individual students or small groups of students to help such students navigate critical situations such as emergencies and crises.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Direct counseling</span>&#x201D; means <span class="dictionary">school counseling curriculum lessons and activities</span>, <span class="dictionary">individual counseling</span>, <span class="dictionary">small group counseling</span>, <span class="dictionary">crisis counseling</span>, <span class="dictionary">appraisal and advisement</span>, and <span class="dictionary">consultation, collaboration, and referrals</span>. &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Direct counseling</span>&#x201D; does not include <span class="dictionary">program planning and school support</span>.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Individual counseling</span>&#x201D; means the act of providing developmentally appropriate, goal-focused, and <span class="dictionary">brief</span> counseling sessions to individual students to address <span class="dictionary">issues</span> relating to mental health and wellness, social and emotional development, academic achievement, and college and career readiness.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Program planning and school support</span>&#x201D; means the act of defining, planning, managing, and assessing school counseling activities. &#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Program planning and school support</span>&#x201D; includes the act of reviewing data, creating annual student outcome goals, creating action plans and results reports, holding annual administrative conferences, monitoring use-of-time, creating annual and weekly calendars, and facilitating school counseling advisory councils.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">School counseling curriculum lessons and activities</span>&#x201D; means the act of providing data-informed lessons or activities at the classroom level or on a schoolwide basis to provide students with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills appropriate for their developmental levels.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Small group counseling</span>&#x201D; means the act of providing counseling to small groups of students with similar developmental or situational challenges with the goal of improving achievement, attendance, mental health or wellness, or behavioral outcomes. <a id="paragraph-227505" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/22.1-291.1_1/#A"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B"><p><span class="prefix-number">B.</span> Each school counselor employed by a <span class="dictionary">school board</span> in a public <span class="dictionary">elementary</span> or secondary school shall spend at least 80 percent of his staff time during normal school hours in the <span class="dictionary">direct counseling</span> of individual students or groups of students and may spend up to 20 percent of his staff time during normal school hours on <span class="dictionary">program planning and school support</span>. <a id="paragraph-227506" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/22.1-291.1_1/#B"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>2019, c. 139; 2023, cc. 347, 349.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
