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The purpose of this assignment was to gain knowledge about the recently passed House Bill 18. In addition to learning about HB 18, this opportunity for one to form contacts on campus could help them in the future.

The following summarizes my interviewees' responses to five unique questions, and my takeaways after our interviews.

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Mr. L. Jones is an Assistant Principal at a 6A campus in the DFW area. He has over ten years of experience and has also served as a mentor and athletic coach.

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Mrs. S. Threets has over 20 years of experience as a school counselor. She has worked with various age groups and students of diverse backgrounds during her time as a counselor. She is currently a certified trauma professional, Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) practitioner, the restorative co-coordinator, and is the lead counselor over the HOPE Squad.

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Question #1: What is House Bill 18 and what does it mean for schools in Texas?

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Question #1: What is House Bill 18 and what does it mean for schools in Texas?

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From this question, I learned that HB 18 ensures that all school campus professionals are properly trained to address students' mental health issues.

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Question #2: What will your role be in implementing the requirements of HB 18?

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Question #2: What will your role be in implementing the requirements of HB 18?

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When asked about his [a principal's] role in implementing HB 18, Mr. Jones shared that he was responsible for ensuring that the district's protocol is being followed on the campus. As an administrator, he is consistently in communication with counselors, given that they are the mental health experts on our campus.

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Question #3: What resources will be required, and  how will those be funded?

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Question #3: What resources will be required, and  how will those be funded?

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During the interview, not much information was given. However, at this point, Mr. Jones shared that resources currently in place are our teacher training that the counselors deliver during faculty meetings and our campus's HOPE Squad. HOPE Squad is a suicide prevention program on campus that is student-led.

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Question #4: What initiatives do our campus currently have in place to support teachers dealing with students that may have mental health issues?

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Question #4: What initiatives do our campus currently have in place to support teachers dealing with students that may have mental health issues?

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Again, Mr. Jones referenced the HOPE squad initiative.

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Question #5: What are our campus counselors’ current capacity load for focusing on students’ wellbeing? How do you feel you could maximize human capital to increase their capacity for focusing on students’ mental health?

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Question #5: What are our campus counselors’ current capacity load for focusing on students’ wellbeing? How do you feel you could maximize human capital to increase their capacity for focusing on students’ mental health?

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To wrap the interview, Mr. Jones shared that he feels that the counselors' workload is balanced.

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Question #1: What will your role be in implementing House Bill 18? (Are you familiar with House Bill 18?)

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Question #1: What will your role be in implementing House Bill 18? (Are you familiar with House Bill 18?)

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Mrs. Threets shared that she was not aware of HB 18 before our interview. However, she did share that she is aware of HB 15 focused on trauma and David's Law that focuses on bullying. I then followed up by adding that HB 18 targets mental health training and outlines the comprehensive counseling plan model, and encourages principals to manage human capital in a way that takes non-counseling duties away from counselors.

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Question #2: What kind of resources do you need, if any, to support House Bill 18?

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Question #2: What kind of resources do you need, if any, to support House Bill 18?

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When asked about what kind of resources may be beneficial, Mrs. Threets shared that teachers could take educational resources with them after faculty meetings. Her rationale for waiting for the teachers to have educational items to take with them is to equip themselves better to respond to a student in crisis.

She also mentioned that it would be beneficial for funds to be allocated in the budget for counselors' to purchase items or receive training on how to deal with students who are impacted by mental health.

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Question #3: How can a campus administrator  best support the HB initiatives from your perspective?

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Question #3: How can a campus administrator  best support the HB initiatives from your perspective?

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The key thing that could help counselors is for campus leaders to hire more clerks to assist with data entry. She mentioned that this is a nationwide problem, and the data entry portion of scheduling is a non-counseling duty. The counselor is only responsible for advising students on which courses to select, career pathway, and endorsement pathway by having to do the data entry portion. A lot of their time could be spent with students.
Another option would be to hire two to three counselors that strictly focuses on mental health and student needs. Our campus currently has eight counselors and three clerks that serve in different capacities.

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Question #4: In a week, how much time would you say you spend on non-counseling duties? Is there anything that you feel like an administrator could alleviate from your workload to help you with spending more times focusing on students’ mental health?

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Question #4: In a week, how much time would you say you spend on non-counseling duties? Is there anything that you feel like an administrator could alleviate from your workload to help you with spending more times focusing on students’ mental health?

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This question was not directly answered, but Mrs. Threets shared that scheduling is the biggest obstacle blocking counselors from spending more time with students. She went more in-depth with how scheduling works and consumes the counselor's time. I gather from her response that the school administrator hiring more staff to help with scheduling is the ideal solution in Mrs. Threets's opinion.

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Question #5: What initiatives are in place on campus to ensure that teachers are trained on how to deal with mental health issues? How do counselors assist with that?

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Question #5: What initiatives are in place on campus to ensure that teachers are trained on how to deal with mental health issues? How do counselors assist with that?

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Mrs. Threets ended our interview by sharing that she would like to see our Social and Emotional Learning practices married with the practices learned during our campus's recent Trust-Based Relational Intervention training. She is currently creating a Canvas course for teachers to enroll in resources available whenever they need ideas or resources to help a student in crisis. She invited me to collaborate with her on the project.

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From my interviews, it feels as if the counselor is more aware of what is going on with students' laws, changes, and needs regarding student mental health. The principal serves in the capacity of a facilitator. The principal is aware of the district protocol but seems to have limited knowledge outside of the district's protocol.

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When I spoke with the principal, he felt like the counselors' on my campus had an even workload. However, after speaking with a counselor, I learned that it is not true. Our counselors are currently overwhelmed with the duties of scheduling and do not have adequate time to focus on students' mental health issues. I believe that this misconception is a nationwide problem because I only reach out to the counseling department when a student has scheduling issues or making a suicidal outcry. As an aspiring principal, I need to change my view of the counselor's role.

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To be transparent, neither party on my campus was aware of House Bill 18. Due to a lack of knowledge, neither of the interviewees could offer any real advice on what HB 18 or what it means for Texas educators. From the Zoom meeting offered by Dr. Agan and the Region 15 representatives, I was able to gain a basic understanding of what HB 18 is and its purpose.

As shared by Mr. Jones, House Bill 18 aims to ensure that Texas education practitioners are properly trained on how to respond to students with mental health issues. Additionally, the Zoom meeting shared that HB 18 entails how principals should manage human capital to remove non-counseling duties from school counselors' workload. In addition to principals taking away non-counseling duties, the principal is responsible for collaborating with counselors to ensure that the campus comprehensive counseling plan is aligned with the district protocol.

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Stevens, C., & Hickey, G. (2020). House Bill 18: What it is & why we need it [PowerPoint Slide]. Retrieved from https://blackboard.angelo.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-304623-dt-announcement-rid-26456342_2/xid-26456342_2