                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

SCHOOL COUNSELORS; STAFF TIME (§ 22.1-291.1:1)

A. As used in this section:
			&#8220;Appraisal and advisement&#8221; 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.
			&#8220;Consultation, collaboration, and referrals&#8221; means the act of (i)
providing information to and receiving information from individuals or teams to
support a student&#8217;s needs; (ii) working and communicating with parents,
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.
			&#8220;Crisis counseling&#8221; 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.
			&#8220;Direct counseling&#8221; means school counseling curriculum lessons
and activities, individual counseling, small group counseling, crisis
counseling, appraisal and advisement, and consultation, collaboration, and
referrals. &#8220;Direct counseling&#8221; does not include program planning and
school support.
			&#8220;Individual counseling&#8221; means the act of providing
developmentally appropriate, goal-focused, and brief counseling sessions to
individual students to address issues relating to mental health and wellness,
social and emotional development, academic achievement, and college and career
readiness.
			&#8220;Program planning and school support&#8221; means the act of defining,
planning, managing, and assessing school counseling activities. &#8220;Program
planning and school support&#8221; 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.
			&#8220;School counseling curriculum lessons and activities&#8221; 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.
			&#8220;Small group counseling&#8221; 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.

B. Each school counselor employed by a school board in a public elementary or
secondary school shall spend at least 80 percent of his staff time during normal
school hours in the direct counseling of individual students or groups of
students and may spend up to 20 percent of his staff time during normal school
hours on program planning and school support.

HISTORY: 2019, c. 139; 2023, cc. 347, 349.