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I am a high school teacher, working on my Master of Education in Guidance and Counseling. Upon completion of my degree, I hope to find a job as a school counselor in a secondary school setting. I currently work in a district that requires a long commute, but hope to eventually relocate to the same district where my daughter attends school or to a district that is closer to home. I hope to offer academic counseling, as well as emotional support, as students plan for the future.

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I had the opportunity to speak with Kim Gammon, the lead counselor at my high school, about current legal and ethical issues impacting her work. Below are the top five things I learned during our interview.

#1: All of the policies and rules in place relating to legal or ethical issues are dictated by the district. If there are any updates, all of the counseling departments receive an update from the school district.

#2: The number one legal issue that Mrs. Gammon is very vigilant about is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). She considers this vital in her profession and makes sure that the whole counseling department abides by FERPA. She ensures that no information can be overheard by student aides or office staff. She also mentioned letting students know up front what and how information they share with her can and must be shared depending on the situation.

#3: As counselors, Mrs. Gammon said it is very important for every student to be treated the same and for every student to receive the same information.

#4: Mrs. Gammon has been in our district for several years; however, this has been her first year at my high school. She realized that there were many tasks that the counseling department was put in charge of that really should not be handled by them because of ethical and legal grounds. The district outlines what the counseling department should be doing. She has been working closely with the administration to make sure that this is being corrected. Two examples she gave me was the handling of credit recovery for failing students and 504 plans.

#5: In my district every counselor attends training on legal and ethical issues every year. This training is sponsored by the district and everyone must attend. This past year the training focused on different ethical and legal scenarios counselors might encounter and how to best deal with each one.

(K. Gammon, personal communication, June 8, 2018)

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One of the legal issues that is pertinent to my future career as a counselor is the degree of confidentiality that a counselor is entitled to and when a counselor can be held liable. According to the Texas Education Code, counselors are required to disclose confidential materials to parents upon request and only in rare situations can such materials be withheld (Walsh, Kemere, and Maniotis, 2014). However, counselors do not need parental permission to meet with students if the counseling concerns suicide prevention, drug abuse, or sexual, physical, or emotional abuse. School counselors are often involved in the reporting of child abuse and can be held liable for inaction. Under FERPA counselors are allowed to share confidential information with other school staff members, as long as those members have a legitimate interest (Walsh et. al, 2014).

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School safety is an important topic for parents and school employees. In order to keep schools safe, public school officials can request identification of any person on school property, ask visitors to leave that have no reason to be on school grounds, complete background checks, and store visitor information in a database (Walsh, Kemere, and Maniotis, 2014).  According to Mitchell v. Beaumont I.S.D., 2006, parents do not have unfettered access to school property and school districts have the right to bar parents in order to keep the school safe (Walsh et al., 2014). Furthermore, disorderly conduct such as using vulgar language, making offensive gestures or excessive noise, creating offensive odors, threatening or fighting, or bringing a fireman to school are prohibited. School districts must also ban tobacco products and alcohol and have a multi hazard emergency operations plan in place (Walsh et al., 2014).

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American School Counselor Association. (2014). The school counselor and confidentiality. Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/PositionStatements/PS_Confidentiality.pdf

Britannica ImageQuest. (n.d.). Security camera sign at a school in Wales. [Photography]. Retrieved from https://quest.eb.com/search/132_1367188/1/132_1367188/cite

Britannica ImageQuest. (n.d.). Confidential paperwork. [Photography]. Retrieved from https://quest.eb.com/search/132_1310582/1/132_1310582/cite

Moyer, M., & Sullivan, J. (2008). Student risk-taking behaviors: When do school counselors break confidentiality?. Professional School Counseling, 11(4), 236-245.

Walsh, J., Kemere, F., Maniotis, L. (2014). The Educator's Guide to Texas School Law (8th ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press

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For step 3 of this assignment I decided to focus on confidentiality and research this topic a little deeper. This topic is very important to me as a teacher and as a future counselor. I believe it is important to know the limitations on confidentiality and when one must breach confidentiality in order to ensure the safety of others.

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Student Risk-Taking Behaviors: When Do School Counselors Break Confidentiality?

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Student Risk-Taking Behaviors: When Do School Counselors Break Confidentiality?

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Angelo State University - Library Online Resources

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The School Counselor and Confidentiality

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The School Counselor and Confidentiality

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As a future high school counselor building a relationship of trust with my students will be imperative. Confidentiality and the right to privacy will be an important part of that relationship. However, there will be times when breaking confidentiality will come into question.  According to the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), school counselors must inform students that certain situations may arise that will require the counselor to share information with others. These include court ordered disclosures, consultations with other professionals, privileged communication that is not protected by law, and when a student is a danger to self or others (2014).

Parents have the legal right to request information about a counseling session; however, school counselors have the right to use discretion in what information they share with the parents (Moyer & Sullivan, 2008). Still, at what point should counselors breach confidentiality and voluntarily give information? After conducting two surveys, it was determined that counselors’ decision to break confidentiality varied and was based on the degree of dangerousness of the behavior in the student, the age of the student, and the frequency and duration of the behavior (Moyer & Sullivan, 2008). Majority of the counselors agreed that suicidal ideation was a reason for a breach in confidentiality, but were less in agreement when it came to other behaviors.

School counselors have to make ethical decisions on a daily basis. In order to best prepare for this professions, school counselors are advised to attend training and to seek consultation with others to discuss ethical dilemmas they may face (Moyer & Sullivan, 2008). This is an important topic that I know I will encounter as a future high school counselor.