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Upon completion of my master's degree in school counseling, I intend to work in a high school setting helping students acquire positive school memories of success and acceptance.

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Exploration Option #1 - According to a Current School Counselor

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Exploration Option #1 - According to a Current School Counselor

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I spoke with my good friend Rob Adams regarding legal and ethical issues in relation to the role of a school counselor.  Rob works as a counselor at Mamaroneck High School in New York.

Issue #1: If a counselor is called to render testimony in the case of a student, it may be considered a conflict of interest for that counselor to be assigned to counsel a sibling of that student.

Issue #2: Undocumented students ("DREAMer" kids) live in worry of ICE investigations that may send them, along with their family, back to their home country where they are unable to obtain a good education.  Counselors feel obligated to keep a special lookout for these kids and to help them and their families understand their rights and responsibilities.

Issue #3: Counselors must adhere to and understand the importance of a student's right to privacy but also when that right to privacy needs to be broken (e.g. threat of suicide).  Outside people and parties attempt to pry, at times, into other student's business.

Issue #4: Documentation is key to the role of a school counselor and will not only protect the counselor but their students as well.  Doing this provides proof if ever needed, that certain actions were taken or at least attempted in an effort to help a student.  This may need to be provided to the courts, administration, or parents depending on the situation. Document everything!

Issue #5: Schools today follow a zero tolerance rule in relation to bullying.  Staff and students are required to say something if they see something and it is the counselor's responsibility to address any of these issues through counseling, reporting, and documenting any and all actions taken.

(R. Adams, personal communication, August 19, 2018)

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An article warns not only principals but all school staff to take caution when confiscating student's cell phones.  They fall under an "unreasonable search and seizure" umbrella of the 4th Amendment and could potentially cause major legal repercussions if not handled appropriately (Riddell, 2018, para. 21).  Frequently, issues such as bullying or even cheating in class involve the use of cell phones in school.

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In a packed Wednesday afternoon session at the 2018 National Principals Conference in Chicago, attorney Brian D. Schwartz gave what he called one of his favorite presentations: a rundown of a half-dozen legal hazards principals and their faculty must remain mindful of to avoid headaches in court.

While he joked that everyone knows there are really anywhere from 6,000 to 6 million legal hazards that go hand-in-hand with being a principal, his goal was to focus on the most pressing concerns in a fun but informative rundown.

Avoid scenarios where you're personally liable for students outside your duties

"There are so many more lawsuits every year that name principals, teachers - everyone involved," Schwartz said, adding that the answer to "Can I be sued?" is always yes.

Principals are generally protected as long as they act within the scope of their duties and act reasonably in the situation. They bear personal liability if they fail to act within the scope of their duties or fail to act reasonably.

As an example, he cited a common scenario especially important to share with teachers, because they do a lot of things that fall outside the scope of their duties, like giving students a ride home. If you're going to have a student in your vehicle, he said, make sure someone else is present or that someone else is on a phone call with you so you're protected from any sort of potential accusations.

Appreciate the visibility of your position

Around 97% of students remember the name of their 1st grade teacher, Schwartz said. And they always have fond memories of them. The anecdote serves as a reminder that educators tend to be held to a higher standard in their communities. Students and their families will remember, for example, if they see their principal in a place that could be deemed unsavory.

One attendee cited a scenario where she was entering a liquor store when she heard a young student exclaim, "There's my principal!"

"If you're going to drink, just drink alone in your basement," he said he always tells educators.

Beware of social networking sites

On a similar note, social media can wreck havoc on educators' careers - and being friends with students on these platforms is especially perilous. One educator noted that her school tells students once they graduate, they can do so, but not before.

"If you're going to have an account where you communicate with students, do it separately from your personal account," he said.

Schwartz also mentioned a separate example of a talented, first-year 1st grade teacher who was forced to resign after a parent did a Google search and found a photo of her from college, double-fisting drinks, captioned "Sometimes school is so boring, I drink my lunch." The parent sent that photo to every parent of every student in her class, as well as every school board member, and the resulting pressure led the teacher to leave the field of education permanently.

Limit physical contact with students

Physical contact should be limited to safety reasons, like breaking up fights, or educational purposes, Schwartz said.

When breaking up fights, use no more force than necessary to separate students, and break contact as soon as the students are separated. With educational purposes, consider if an action is punishment or does it serve as a teachable moment.

A teacher, for example, was sued for "intentional infliction of emotional distress on a child" for setting up a standing desk for a student who kept sleeping in class. The judge ultimately ruled that it was for an educational purpose because the teacher had taken steps to keep the student awake without embarrassing them first. The practice of having a student draw a circle on a chalkboard and stand with their nose in it is, however, questionable.

Huggers must also err on the side of caution.

"I'd never tell you in a million years not to hug a kid," Schwartz said. There's a lot of reasons to hug a student and they can benefit from it, but there's also a fine line between what's "creepy" and what's "kosher."

If you must hug, Schwartz advises that you control the situation, limit it to younger students, and make sure you are in a public area. You can also encourage educators to resort to the fist bump or the one-armed hug to add an extra layer of protection for themselves.

Don't put yourself in the middle of family problems

With divorced parents, both have the right to participate in their child's education, but only the parent with custody can make educational decisions. And equal parental responsibility means don't make any changes until a joint decision is made.

Schwartz advised that when or if the second parent moves to town and requests their child's records or to be involved in educational decisions, for example, that administrators use the allotted time of 45 days to figure things out by getting a copy of the second parent's license, checking with the other parent, etc., before providing relevant documentation.

He also said that the general rule of thumb should be that until both parents make a decision, everything stays the same.

Do not search student cell phones

The U.S. Supreme Court has said cell phones are protected from unreasonable search and seizure​ by the 4th Amendment. And beyond that , you could also see sensitive content due to the prevalence of sexting, causing a major rift with students and parents while creating a larger legal issue.

Embracing a "bag & tag" practice can protect administrators in these scenarios. Simply have the student turn the phone off, place it in a plastic bag and seal it, and then write the student's name on the bag and take it to the school office.

Administrators only have the right to look at the cell phone if they have reason to believe something on that phone violates school policy - such as evidence of a drug sell, academic cheating, or so on. And even then, they should have the police look at the phone on their behalf.

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NPC 2018: Principals must avoid these 6 legal hazards

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In a packed Wednesday afternoon session at the 2018 National Principals Conference in Chicago, attorney Brian D. Schwartz gave what he called one of his favorite presentations: a rundown of a half-dozen legal hazards principals and their faculty must remain mindful of to avoid headaches in court.

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Exploration Option #3 Continued - Education Week

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Exploration Option #3 Continued - Education Week

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Evidently, the student to counselor ratio recommended by the ASCA of 250-to-1 is almost nonexistent in this country (Fuschillo, 2018).  State policymakers need to mandate schools allocate the proper amount of funds from the federal Student Support and Academic Achievement program to school counseling programs to ensure school campuses provide enough counseling support for its students.  Federal legislation needs to ensure these funds are not cut from the U.S. Department of Education's budget.

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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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Most Interesting Issue - Undocumented Students: DREAM Act and DACA

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Most Interesting Issue - Undocumented Students: DREAM Act and DACA

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After hearing an interesting success story from my school counselor friend regarding an undocumented student (whom he referred to as a DREAMer), I would like to dig deeper into the issues and laws surrounding this marginalized group of students.  I honestly do not know much about this topic other than Congress will not pass the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act which allows a way for illegal aliens (particularly Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA recipients) to obtain citizenship after high school graduation and keeps minor undocumented immigrants safe from deportation.  I understand the Trump administration is slowly phasing out the DACA Act (Stone, 2017).

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The topic of laws pertaining to undocumented students is important for school counselors to understand for many reasons; it helps explain their academic and social behavior; it allows counselors to get a better sense of their home life climate; and, lastly, these laws affect their work and college opportunities (Swan & Clark-Ibanez, 2017).

Clearly, there are legal issues associated with this topic due to the sheer fact these students are undocumented and, as we call them, illegal aliens. According to Swan & Clark-Ibanez (2017), the students they interviewed justified coming to the U.S. illegally by explaining it as a matter of survival, however, many students who came to the states as a child were not aware of the implications or severity of their situation until later in life.  The DACA Act's main purpose is to grant temporary legal status for some undocumented immigrants who came to this country as children.  Barrack Obama passed the act in an unconstitutional manner when he bypassed Congress to implement this program (Spakovsky, 2017).  It appears on one side, one of the biggest arguments against the DACA Act is the stress it poses on the job market for U.S. citizens (Hernandez, 2018).  Yet, breaking families apart and/or taking a child's opportunity for a good education away are strong arguments in support of DACA and important ethical issues.

The life of an undocumented high school student looks quite different than one who is an American citizen. Many of these students live in fear of deportation for themselves or other family members. The ability to earn a drivers license or land a rewarding job are privileges usually only American citizen students have. These students must take every precaution to stay out of trouble, so typical high school social behavior or attending parties are considered even more dangerous for them. Not to mention, their chance at receiving financial assistance for college is slim to none and they may additionally have to pay non-resident tuition (Swan & Clark-Ibanez (2017).  Adding insult to injury, many of their peers may look down on them or treat them in a derogatory manner.  It is imperative for school counselors to recognize the potential emotional, social, and academic issues stemming from the issues these students face to better help them cope and be successful regardless of the obstacles they may face.  On the upside, many of these undocumented students value their education and realize how fortunate they are to attend school so they do their best to succeed.

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References and Links For Most Interesting Issue

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References and Links For Most Interesting Issue

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Hernandez, A. (2018, August 19). What could happen to DACA? Federal court cases could lead to an answer.  Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/what-will-happen-to-daca-federal-court-cases-could-lead-to-an-answer/2018/08/19/95dc35f2-9b30-11e8-843b-36e177f3081c_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.761ad5295e3c
Spakovsky, H. (2017, September 8). DACA is unconstitutional, as Obama admitted. Retrieved from https://www.heritage.org/immigration/commentary/daca-unconstitutional-obama-admitted
Swan, R. & Clark-Ibanez, M. (2017). Perceptions of shifting legal ground: DACA and the consciousness of undocumented students and graduates. Thomas Jefferson Law Review 39(2), 67-92.

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Fuschillo, A. (2018, August 14). The troubling student-to-counselor ratio that doesn't add up. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/08/14/the-troubling-student-to-counselor-ratio-that-doesnt-add.html
Hernandez, A. (2018, August 19). What could happen to DACA? Federal court cases could lead to an answer.  Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/what-will-happen-to-daca-federal-court-cases-could-lead-to-an-answer/2018/08/19/95dc35f2-9b30-11e8-843b-36e177f3081c_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.761ad5295e3c
Riddell, R. (2018, July 18). NPC 2018: Principals must avoid these six legal hazards. Retrieved from https://www.educationdive.com/news/npc-2018-principals-must-avoid-these-6-legal-hazards/527581/
Spakovsky, H. (2017, September 8). DACA is unconstitutional, as Obama admitted. Retrieved from https://www.heritage.org/immigration/commentary/daca-unconstitutional-obama-admitted
Stone, C. (2017, May 1). Support undocumented students. Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/magazine/blogs/may-june-2017/support-undocumented-students
Swan, R. & Clark-Ibanez, M. (2017). Perceptions of shifting legal ground: DACA and the consciousness of undocumented students and graduates. Thomas Jefferson Law Review 39(2), 67-92.