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Step 5: What I Learned About Suicide Prevention in Public Schools

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Step 5: What I Learned About Suicide Prevention in Public Schools

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Suicide rates are rising across the nation’s student population (Blad, 2018). In fact, “suicide is the third leading cause of death in 15 to 24 year olds” (Stone & Zirkel, 2012, para. 3). Therefore, it is vital for schools to educate and train all staff as part of a suicide prevention program (Blad, 2018). According to the American School Counselor Association’s (ASCA) responsive services standards (ASCA, 2012), school guidance programs must list and describe “interventions used in responsive services, such as individual/small-group counseling and crisis response (ASCA, 2012, p. 10).

School counselors must always notify the parent/guardian if a student makes a suicide outcry. Furthermore, school counselors should document when they contacted the parent. Also, it is best practice to have a witness if possible when contacting parents and to obtain a signature from parents as soon as possible. In addition to contacting parents, school counselors should provide parents/guardians with referrals to community organizations, resources, and hotlines (Stone & Zirkel, 2012).

Likewise, an effective suicide prevention program will include partnerships with local community resources. Schools must also keep their staff knowledgeable of the latest suicide prevention research and legal, ethical, and best practices regarding suicide prevention (Miller, 2014).  As a school counselor, I must stay aware of the latest suicide prevention mandates as well and include these in a school guidance program. The plan should include “what defines a crisis, the appropriate response and a variety of intervention strategies to meet the needs of the individual, group or school community, before, during, and after crisis response” (ASCA, 2012, p. 10).

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After completing my Master of Education degree in School Guidance and Counseling, I plan to work as a school guidance counselor at either the elementary or secondary level. Currently, I am a special education resource teacher for first, second, and third grade students.

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Step 2 - Exploration Option 2: Rising Suicide Rates

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Step 2 - Exploration Option 2: Rising Suicide Rates

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This article discusses the rising suicide rates across the nation’s student population. With this rise, a new focus has emerged that includes all staff in a school’s suicide prevention program. The article also addresses what schools should know about suicide contagion and gives suggestions for helping students who have lost someone to suicide (Blad, E., 2018).

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When suicide is in the news, in popular culture, or directly affecting a student who is grieving a lost loved one, it can be difficult for teachers to know what to say or whether to talk about it at all. But open conversations and offers of help can be a crucial lifeline for students, suicide prevention experts say.

As suicide rates have continued a multi-year trend of gradually increasing, the prevention community has expanded its focus beyond mental health providers and counselors by seeking to embed resources and knowledge among other members of the community, including educators, said Doreen Marshall, vice president of programs at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

"In schools, there's been more emphasis over the past four to five years over training other gatekeepers, like teachers," Marshall said. "What we're starting to see is a shift to suicide prevention being more of a shared responsibility among the community, where there's a sense that we look out for each other."

The organization has developed resources for teachers, parents, and youth-oriented groups to help guide conversations and explain mental health concepts that may be unfamiliar to some adults. Among the biggest goals, helping people feel comfortable talking about a topic that has long carried a painful stigma.

People "have this thought that if I mention suicide, it's going to put the idea in someone's head," Marshall said. "If anything, it's going to open the door to a very important dialogue."
If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741
What Schools Should Know About Suicide Contagion

Two recent celebrity suicides have led to an increase in media coverage about the topic. And, while designer Kate Spade and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain were both middle-aged, it's likely that the talk of their deaths have made their way into the conversations of younger people, who consume media more regularly and independently than their parents did as teenagers.

Such coverage, if handled inappropropriately, can spark a contagion effect, particularly for people who are already vulnerable to suicidal thoughts, including some teens. Developmentally, teens are at a phase where they "look more to the external world to get messages about who they are," which can make them particularly receptive to problematic messages, Marshall said.

Prevention organizations were particularly troubled by coverage of actor Robin Williams' suicide in 2014, which led to a spike in calls to suicide helplines.

Contagion concerns also flare up after a suicide in a community or student body, or when suicide is portrayed in popular media. AFSP released a discussion guide after Netflix's 13 Reasons Why, which portrays suicide, became popular among teens.

Some of the same principles that drive responsible media coverage can help guide one-on-one and classroom conversations:

Don't be too specific about methods, which can "fill in the picture" for people who may already be having suicidal thoughts, Marshall said.

Don't frame suicide as an inevitable response to mental health issues or difficulties in life, organizations say. Rather, discuss options students can turn to for support.

Accompany conversations about suicide with resources, like hotlines, connections to community support, or an offer to talk further. "It is an opportunity to educate, to promote helpseeking, and to let them know that they can get help before it gets to a point."

Don't use the word "committed," which suggests a crime and contributes to stigma. Instead, say someone "died by suicide" or "took his/her life."

Encourage students to seek help for themselves or others if they have concerns.

How to Help a Student Who's Lost Someone to Suicide

Schools may also encounter conversations about suicide if a student has a friend or loved one who takes their own life. This creates special considerations for grieving and processing the event that differ from other kinds of death.

"Schools need to pay some extra mind about how that student is making sense about what has happened, where their supports are," Marshall said.

Children who lose a parent to suicide are more likely to die by suicide themselves, and prone to other psychiatric concerns, Johns Hopkins University researcher Holly C. Wilcox found in a large-scale study published in Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry in 2010. But support and resources can help counteract those effects, in the same way that strong connections to adults can buffer the effects of other forms of childhood trauma, researchers say.

Educators should also be careful not to assume that this is the first time a student has been impacted by suicide, Marshall said.

"All of this goes back to how important it is to just ask directly," she said. "If they have been impacted before, you might get some really important information about how the student is making sense about what has happened."

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has assembled resources to help parents, educators, and the public understand and discuss suicide:
If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741 Follow @evieblad on Twitter or subscribe to Rules for Engagement to get blog posts delivered directly to your inbox.

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What Educators Need to Know About Suicide: Contagion, Complicated Grief, and Supportive Conversations

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When suicide is in the news, in popular culture, or directly affecting a student who is grieving a lost loved one, it can be difficult for teachers to know what to say or whether to talk about it at all. But open conversations and offers of help can be a crucial lifeline for students, suicide prevention experts say.

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Through my research on legal and ethical issues in the field of school guidance counseling programs, I found the issues of suicide reporting and prevention to be the most noteworthy. I find this interesting because I have personally known students that have made suicide outcries. Furthermore, the counselors at the school district I work for routinely guide students through suicide risk assessments.

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Step 4: Researching Suicide Prevention in Public Schools

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Step 4: Researching Suicide Prevention in Public Schools

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Through my search on the Angelo State University Library’s website, I read the article “Levels of Responsibility in School-based Suicide Prevention: Legal Requirements, Ethical Duties, and Best Practices” which discusses legal requirements and best practices within schools. It also describes the various roles that school employees should have within a suicide prevention program. The article explains court cases in which school district's have been sued for negligence in the death of a student to suicide. Finally, the article states that schools should partner with community organizations and develop a strong mental health program within the school system (Miller, 2014).

Miller, D. (2014). Levels of responsibility in school-based suicide prevention: Legal requirements, ethical duties, and best practices. International Journal of Behavioral and Consultation Therapy, 9(3).

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Step 4: Researching Suicide Prevention in Public Schools

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Step 4: Researching Suicide Prevention in Public Schools

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Through my internet search on the topic of legal issues for school counselors on the topic of suicide prevention, I found the information on the American School Counselor Association's School Counselor website. This article titled "Student Suicide: Legal and Ethical Implications" discusses court cases and states the importance schools notifying parents if a student makes an outcry.

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A school counselor calls the ASCA office concerned about a colleague who administered a suicide assessment, deemed a child not suicidal and sent him home on the school bus. A mother is distressed when her daughter is named as her friend's "safe person" in a suicidal contract. An administrator reaches out following the suicide of a student whose disturbing journal entries weren't recognized as suicidal ideation.

These are just a few examples of questions the ASCA Ethics Committee has received and represent daily occurrences in school counselors' lives.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death in 15 to 24 year olds. According to a 2010 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, 13.8 percent of American high school students had seriously considered suicide in the previous 12 months, and 6.3 percent reported having attempted suicide during that time. School counselors often receive the first outcry; yet, confusion still exists regarding appropriate action. Reviewing the court decisions in the wake of student suicide is useful from the dual and different perspectives of legal requirements and ethical norms.

Eisel vs. Board of Education of Montgomery County
Legal analysis: In Eisel vs. Board of Education of Montgomery County (1991), a 13-year-old female student died in an apparent murder-suicide pact with another student. Her father sued the school district and two of its school counselors, arguing that their special relationship with his daughter imposed a duty on them to report her suicidal ideations to him and his wife. The trial court dismissed the father's lawsuit. On appeal, however, Maryland's highest court sent it back to the lower court for a trial. The appellate court listed foreseeability of harm as the leading factor in determining whether school employees had a duty to warn the student's parents. Ultimately, the jury in the lower court determined that the school counselors were not liable for the student's death. However, the Eisel case provided some critical principles.

Ethical analysis: In the Eisel case, the court recognized that school counselors hear a great deal of suicidal ideation and that not all threats are substantial; yet, "the consequence of the risk is so great that even a relatively remote possibility of a suicide may be enough to establish duty" (Eisel vs. Board of Education of Montgomery County, 1991). School counselors act in loco parentis, which means their obligation is to protect the students' safety at school and exercise reasonable care to give parents a chance to protect their children.

The ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors dictate that school counselors "recognize that working with minors in a school setting requires school counselors to collaborate with students' parents/guardians to the extent possible. Students sometimes deceive in order to avoid further scrutiny and/or parental notification" so we err on the side of caution. When school counselors work with a potentially suicidal student, the end result must always be to notify the parent/guardian.

School counselors consult and are constant consumers of legal and ethical information by seeking the help of colleagues, administrators and school attorneys. The complexity of the legal world is less daunting and security is enhanced when consulting with fellow professionals.

Post-Eisel Negligence Case Law with Tort Immunity
Legal analysis: Since the Eisel decision, various negligence cases have arisen in the wake of a student's suicide, but the rationales and outcomes fit the overall pro-educator pattern. Regardless of the school counselor's action or omission, governmental immunity serve as effective defenses for the school district and employee in many states. For example, in Killen vs. Independent School District No. 706 (1996), a ninth-grade student killed herself at home with a firearm. Although the school counselor had warned the parents that their daughter had expressed suicidal feelings and recommended counseling, the parents alleged the school counselor didn't inform them when their daughter subsequently made a more specific statement about committing suicide. The Minnesota appeals court upheld the lower court's dismissal based on governmental immunity provisions.

Similarly, in Grant vs. Board of Trustees of Valley View School District (1997), a student's friends reported his suicidal ideations and drug overdose to the school counselor. The school counselor urged the mother to take him to a hospital for drug treatment. Later that day, the student jumped to his death from a highway overpass. His mother alleged the school counselor failed to tell her about his suicidal expressions. An Illinois appellate court upheld the trial court's dismissal on the grounds that public schools and their employees have immunity unless their misconduct was willful or wanton.

Ethical analysis: School counselors are clear with parents about a child's expressed or implied suicidal ideation. When a student makes veiled threats of suicide, school counselors avoid skirting the issue; rather, they ask the tough questions. Wanting their suffering, not their lives, to end, many suicidal students answer "no" when asked if they are considering suicide. However, this answer does not negate the risk. Use open-ended questions, such as "What do you think about life and death?" This approach can serve as the first step in getting necessary help for an at-risk student. Parents need to understand that expressions of suicide or other warning signs require vigilance. School counselors should document they contacted the parents and wherever possible have a witness to the conversation. The principal or another administrator can add needed leverage and urgency to the conversation if parents are reluctant to act. School counselors use their best judgment in these emotionally charged situations and avoid putting documentation above the parents' feelings and well-being. However, seek a signature from parents at the first appropriate opportunity.

Post-Eisel Case Law without Governmental Immunity
Legal analysis: Even when a state doesn't have applicable governmental immunity, negligence suits have similarly been largely unsuccessful. A federal appellate court upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by the mother of an eighth-grade student who had hanged himself (Scott vs. Montgomery County Board of Education, 1997). The school psychologist met with the student about two months before the student's death and assessed him as not posing an immediate danger of self-harm and did not notify the student's parents. The court concluded that the alleged causal linkage to the school psychologist was insufficient, and the mother's negligence claims could not be categorized as educational malpractice.

A Wisconsin appellate court concluded that a parents' suit failed for lack of an essential element of a negligence claim - causation (McMahon vs. St. Croix Falls School District, 1999). In this case, a student skipped school and died from self-immolation. One of his classmates alleged that she told a school counselor that he planned to cut school and that he had said something about being "sick and tired of life." The Wisconsin appeals court ruled in favor of the school defendants, because under Wisconsin law suicide is an intervening variable that "breaks the line of causation."

In Mikell vs. School Administrative Unit # 33 (2009), a student allegedly told a teacher's aide that he "wanted to blow his brains out." The school counselor met with the student, informed the parents that he was fine to remain at school and had the student sign a "contract for safety." The school counselor took no further action, and two months later the student hanged himself. The New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that school authorities were not liable for the student's death as they did not have custodial care of the student, such as what applies in a hospital setting, nor had they engaged in "extreme and outrageous" conduct that "resulted in an uncontrollable impulse to commit suicide or prevented the decedent from realizing the nature of his act."

Armijo vs. Wagon Mound Public Schools (1998) is the only published decision to recognize a Section 1983 cause of action against school authorities based on a student's suicide. A New Mexico school principal suspended a student and directed a school counselor to drive him home. His parents returned home later in the day and found him dead from a self-inflicted gunshot. Earlier in the day he had reportedly told a school aide that he might be "better off dead." The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the case to proceed because a jury could find that the principal and school counselor left him at home alone, with access to a firearm, when they knew he was suicidal. The ultimate outcome of this case was not published, and the school district (the deeper pocket) was the defendant not the school counselor.

Ethical analysis: School counselors find little comfort in the courts' reluctance to find against school counselors and their districts regarding student suicide. School counselors want to avoid defending their actions in court, but more importantly, they want to prevent a student's death. Attending to all matters that arise in a school counselor's day is daunting, but suicide is one of those obligations that must be prioritized for immediate attention. A student's expression of being "sick and tired of life" is reason enough to trigger immediate action. "In adolescence, indirect clues could be offered through joking or through references in school assignments, particularly creative writing or art pieces." Children who view the world in concrete terms may not know how to express these feelings verbally or in writing.

If a school counselor informally or formally conducts a suicide assessment and considers the student to be at low risk for suicide, the school counselor still needs to contact the student's parents. The ASCA Ethical Standards call for school counselors to "report risk assessments to parents when they underscore the need to act on behalf of a child at risk." If you tell parents you have spoken with their child and that you believe the child is fine to remain at school, the parents will likely have the impression that their child is at a low risk for suicide.

Another controversial practice is school counselors' development of suicide contracts with students, as in the Mikell case. Little empirical evidence supports contracts as an effective tool to prevent suicide. Additionally, the use of a suicide contract implies that the school counselor will ensure the student's safety. The word "contract" can give the impression of a binding agreement. However, a suicidal person is often not competent to agree to sign a contract. Use of suicide contracts may have the opposite effect and open one up to a lawsuit. If a school counselor believes it is in a student's best interest to put something on paper, then have the student identify goals, hopeful comments, what is currently going right or what adult to turn to for help.

Well-intentioned school counselors may recruit a close friend of the student's as a helper and note that person as such on a no-harm contract; however, doing so could burden a peer with feelings of responsibility for another student's life or death. Making students aware of what to do when a friend shares this information is a more effective part of suicide prevention plans in schools. The Armijo decision merits special attention. The school counselor needed to convince the principal that the best course of action, given the child's emotional state, would have been to wait until the student could be placed in the protective custody of his parents, far more important than immediate punitive action. Taking or sending a highly agitated or emotional child home without parental supervision is a dangerous practice.

It's important for school counselors to have a supportive consultation network in place well before they actually need it. When working with suicidal students, school counselors should make every attempt to supply parents/guardians with counseling referrals until placement is secured for that student. School counselors need to be culturally sensitive when working with families to secure additional help. When school counselors and crisis team members meet with unresponsive parents, they may need to turn control over to other authorities such as protective services for possible neglect or, if the student is at immediate risk, police or emergency services.

Schools are acting responsibly when they have suicide prevention and intervention plans in place with regular in-services to prepare all educators - teachers, administrators, security guards, cafeteria employees, custodians, bus drivers, secretaries, paraprofessionals and student services staff - of the appropriate procedures for referring suicidal students for help.

Parents have rarely succeeded in establishing liability for student suicide, and none of the known decisions have resulted in an educator being responsible. Certainly, there may be unpublished cases or settlements to the contrary, and the case law is subject to change in the future. Although the precedents to date strongly undercut any undue fear of school counselor liability, awareness of the legal reasoning behind the court decisions serves as guiding principles for school counselors as they make decisions that could prove life-saving for students in the future. Framing the discussion of best practice around the court's arguments gives school counselors the opportunity to apply the courts deliberations to their practice.

Eisel and the court cases that followed provided powerful and prophylactic lessons to school counselors with regard to suicidal students. School counselors, with their specialized training and in loco parentis status, have a high standard of care when a student's suicide is even a remote possibility. School counselors must always contact parents and refer them to appropriate resources that will allow them to seek help for their child. Confidentiality is trumped when weighed against the death of a child. Calling parents upholds school counselors' most significant obligation to students: above all do no harm.

Carolyn Stone, Ed.D., is an associate professor at the University of North Florida and the chair of ASCA's Ethics Committee. She can be reached at cstone@unf.edu. Perry A. Zirkel, J.D., Ph.D., is university professor of education and law at Lehigh University and can be reached at zirkel@lehigh.edu. For references, contact the authors.

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Student Suicide: Legal and Ethical Implications | American School Counselor Association (ASCA)

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A school counselor calls the ASCA office concerned about a colleague who administered a suicide assessment, deemed a child not suicidal and sent him home on the school bus. A mother is distressed when her daughter is named as her friend's "safe person" in a suicidal contract.

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Step 2 - Exploration Option 2: High Student-to-Counselor Student Ratios

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Step 2 - Exploration Option 2: High Student-to-Counselor Student Ratios

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This article provides insight into how a large student-to-school-counselor ratio negatively affects a school counselor’s ability to meet the academic and socio-emotional needs of students, especially those students from low-income families. The article also gives suggestions for changing legislation at the state and federal levels including mandates on student-to-counselor ratio cap and increased federal resources for school counseling programs (Fuschillo, A., 2018).

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Commentary

As students plan for what comes after high school, they need more support

Nationwide, public school counselors are overworked and under-resourced. The average student-to-school-counselor ratio is 482-to-1-nearly double the 250-to-1 ratio recommended by the American School Counselor Association. In fact, only three states-New Hampshire, Vermont, and Wyoming-have statewide averages that fall at or below the recommended ratio.

The impact-or lack thereof-that school counselors have on students is easiest to understand in the high school context, where students face an increasingly dizzying array of choices about what comes next after high school.

There are more types of colleges with more specialties than ever before. For students looking for something other than the four-year college track, apprenticeships are gaining prominence once again. According to some, credential-based or technical-skill-focused modules are the new ticket to the middle class.

But even if high school students settle on a traditional college path, more questions follow: If they choose college, what kind of college-community or four-year? Is there a scholarship for that? And does anybody know how to fill out a FAFSA? (That's Free Application for Federal Student Aid.) And would a 16-year-old know she needed one without a counselor?

Without knowing their options, students inadvertently may miss out on the best path forward or simply make no choice at all. Unfortunately, some counselors are so overworked that they themselves may struggle to stay abreast of the latest trends and programs available.

Students fortunate enough to have engaged parents or other trusted adults in their lives to help them navigate their school years may not be harmed by a lack of in-school supports. Not every student needs the same level of attention. However, as is too often the case when it comes to school resources, the students who most need assistance often attend schools with the fewest supports. For low-income students or those who are the first in their families to attend college, the availability of good counseling can determine if they understand their options and are prepared to make informed choices.

To top it off, while many believe the school counselor's core function is to shepherd students into either college or career, counselors are also responsible for helping students manage their social-emotional health throughout their school years. Yet only a fraction of the up to 1 in 5 children who exhibit symptoms of a mental-health disorder receive help.

Professionals, such as school psychologists, dedicated to addressing mental-health issues are in short supply in school districts across the nation and often work across two or more schools. That means the average school counselor is often the first point of contact for addressing students' social-emotional concerns, academic readiness, and career- and college-counseling needs.

Counselors help students navigate a laundry list of issues that need to be addressed if students are going to make a successful transition to "what comes next." They might discuss students' interests and reviewing class schedules, help students cope with issues at home, and connect students in need of long-term mental-health support to the appropriate outside resources.

All of that requires time-the one thing that the average school counselor must severely ration. Many school counselors do their best, but no number of early mornings and office night shifts can fully make up for too little money and a lack of administrative support. The fact is that even the most dedicated, high-quality professionals can't give every student the necessary attention when juggling an unmanageable workload.

What steps, then, should we ask our school leaders and policymakers to take?

Starting at the district level, one option is for school leaders to monitor how existing counselors use their time. Advocates for the school counseling profession find that some counselors' time is monopolized by data entry and administrative tasks that could be handled by office personnel. Freeing counselors' time so they can focus more on providing the counseling they were trained to provide might not lessen their workload but would ensure they have more time to devote to students.

At the state level, legislators could mandate manageable caseloads for counselors and ensure a minimum level of access to counselors. Not every state requires that school counseling be available to students (particularly at the elementary level), and even fewer have instituted a cap on student-to-counselor ratios.

A mandate, of course, requires additional state resources. Some schools have adequate funding to support a more robust counselor workforce if they reallocate existing resources. But that is not true for all schools, some of which are severely resource-constrained.

Federal policymakers can help fill that resource gap. Currently, federal funding for school counseling is funneled through the Student Support and Academic Enrichment, or SSAE, program, a flexible block-grant program that replaces several targeted grants, including one for elementary and secondary school counseling. It is up to states to decide if they will prioritize school counseling programs when distributing funds to schools.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Education's 2019 budget proposed eliminating the SSAE, which would have left states with no choice in the matter. Thankfully, Congress instead increased SSAE funding, providing $1.1 billion for the grants in this fiscal year's omnibus spending bill, a drastic improvement from the $400 million appropriated for the previous year. But ensuring school counselors have the time, money, and support they need to be an effective resource for their students requires sustained funding, which is why the Education Department's budget request remains alarming.

State legislators and the federal Education Department should allocate more resources to schools, not fewer. If you're looking for evidence of this fact, just ask a school counselor-if you can find one.

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The Troubling Student-to-Counselor Ratio That Doesn't Add Up

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Commentary Nationwide, public school counselors are overworked and under-resourced. The average student-to-school-counselor ratio is 482-to-1-nearly double the 250-to-1 ratio recommended by the American School Counselor Association. In fact, only three states-New Hampshire, Vermont, and Wyoming-have statewide averages that fall at or below the recommended ratio.

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American School Counselor Association (ASCA) School Counselor Competencies. (2012). Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/home/SCCompetencies.pdf

Blad, E. (2018, June 15). What educators need to know about suicide: Contagion, complicated grief, and supportive conversations. Education Week. Retrieved from https://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/rulesforengagement/2018/06/what_educators_need_to_know_about_suicide_contagion_complicated_grief_and_supportive_conversations.html

Fuschillo, A. (2018, August 14). The troubling student-to-counselor ratio that doesn't add up. Education Week. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/08/14/the-troubling-student-to-counselor-ratio-that-doesnt-add.html

Miller, D. (2014). Levels of responsibility in school-based suicide prevention: Legal requirements, ethical duties, and best practices. International Journal of Behavioral and Consultation Therapy, 9(3).

Stone, C. & Zirkel, P. (2012). Student suicide: Legal and ethical implications. Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/magazine/blogs/may-june-2012/student-suicide-legal-and-ethical-implications

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Step 2 - Exploration Option 1: Top Issues Facing School Guidance Counselors

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Step 2 - Exploration Option 1: Top Issues Facing School Guidance Counselors

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I visited with Kari Schroeder, a high school counselor at Taylor High School about current legal and ethical issues within her role as a school counselor.

#1: There is an ever-increasing rise in the number of students with suicidal outcries and tendencies within the school system. Therefore, it is vital to have a protocol for suicide screenings and to have proper training in how to respond to these incidents.

#2: Students and parents often share troubling social media posts with school counselors. School counselors are not responsible for figuring out all of the details concerning social media reports. However, counselors are liable for immediately reporting concerns to the administration and the police with any dangerous situation.

#3: The school administration and counselors are currently reviewing policies to make sure that students are being offered all services available to them through the Special Education (SPED) Program. Counselors must make sure that students in the SPED and 504 programs are in the correct classes. Counselors have the responsibility to help guide students into the best educational courses to take and to make sure all students have fulfilled their course requirements.

#4: Kari Schroeder said she learned the latest state mandates through her attendance at First Year Academy conducted by Region 13 in Austin, Texas. For example, some bills determine how many credits and endorsements students need to graduate and that schools are required to designate a week to promote higher education during the school year. She has also gone to a mental health workshop through the region.

#5: One recent situation that concerned Kari Schroeder was when a parent thought that a child should have been offered special education services because of their child’s mental health status.