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I am a middle school guidance counselor presenting a legal guide that focuses on suicide prevention and teacher responsibilities to faculty and staff at Sul Ross Middle School.  The reason I chose this topic is because suicide outcries are on the rise within recent years.  Proper training could help prevent further occurrences.

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Nancy Pennartz believes that suicide prevention and teacher responsibilities is an important topic that all faculty and staff should have knowledge of.  Mrs. Pennartz believes that her role as an elementary school counselor at Krueger Elementary is to help students develop character traits and build resilience so the students have ways to handle their emotions when in a crisis situation.  In order to do this, she uses the 40 developmental assets, with the belief that the more assets the student possesses, the more resilient they become.

Best Practices

Students should be taught coping skills and use them when dealing with emotions.

Counselors should make themselves available to students and parents.  They should have available resources to provide them to families.

Following up with a student after a crisis is crucial.  It shows the student that someone cares.

Emerging Issue
Diversity is an emerging issue in schools today.  Part of the diverse population in schools includes the LGBTQ community.  More and more students are identifying as LGBTQ, and at times, the students are not equipped with tools or resources when going through this experience.  Mrs. Pennartz likes to promote inclusiveness and acceptance within the school culture to make transitions easier for the students.

For my interview, I interviewed Nancy Pennartz, who is the guidance counselor at Krueger Elementary within Northside Independent School District.

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Paul Granello and Brett Zyromski  (2019), posted an article in the American School Counselor Association Journal regarding the importance of developing a comprehensive school suicide prevention program.  https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2156759X18808128

The article uses the framework of the American School Counselor Association National Model to develop a five step process to fill in the gap that exists in school suicide prevention programs.  With this prevention program, schools can address the mental and emotional needs of students.

Reference
Granello, P.F. & Zyromski, B. (2019). Developing a comprehensive school suicide prevention program. Professional School Counseling, 22(1), 1-11. doi: 10.1177/2156759X18808128

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Nieskens and Robbins (2018) describe how Montana has the highest suicide rates in the nation.  Thirty one percent of the states students felt hopeless or sad for a period over two weeks (Nieskens & Robbins, (2018).  To prevent suicide, schools within the state implemented:

mental health awareness

the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

prevention and intervention programs

teacher screening for students

Link:
https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/11/28/what-it-takes-to-make-suicide-prevention.html

Reference
Nieskens, H & Robbins, M. (2018). What it takes to make suicide prevention a priority in school. Education Week. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/11/28/what-it-takes-to-make-suicide-prevention.html

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Fleming (2019) describes how some states are allowing students to take mental health days from school due to the increase in suicide rates.  Schools are enforcing that it is okay to take care of oneself due to mental health.  The excused days have also brought on further change, such as:

fostering students' social and emotional needs

mindfulness and meditation programs

strategies to cope with stress

Link:
https://www.edutopia.org/article/students-can-now-miss-school-mental-health-day

Reference
Fleming, N. (2019). Students can now miss school for a 'mental health day.'  Education Week. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/students-can-now-miss-school-mental-health-day

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State Statutory Law
The Texas Education Code requires each school district to have a district improvement plan containing:

strategies and methods for suicide prevention on campus

parent/guardian notification procedures (TEC § 11.252).

Link to Law:
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.11.htm

Reference
Tex. Edu. Code § 11.252

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State Administrative Law
The Texas Administrative Code requires that all school districts provide suicide prevention training:

as part of new employee orientation

to all new school districts

to all currently employed school district employees (TAC § 153.1013)

Link to Law:
http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter153/ch153bb.html

Reference
Tex. Admin. Code § 153.1013

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Federal Constitutional Law
The Fourteenth Amendment forbids states to:

enforce any law that takes away the privileges of citizens

take away the right of life, liberty, or property without due process

deny anyone equal rights (US Const. amend. XIV).

Link to Law:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv

Reference
U.S. Const. amend. XIV

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Federal Judicial Law
In Eisel v. Board of Education of Montgomery County (1991), the Supreme Court recognized that:

school counselors have a duty to protect the students' safety

school counselors need to take proper steps in reporting when they are aware of student suicide ideation

school counselors should collaborate with students and parents

Link:

https://casetext.com/case/eisel-v-board-of-education

Reference
Eisel v. Board of Education of Montgomery County, (1991).

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Northside Independent School District Student-Parent Handbook (2019) includes protocol faculty and staff need to adhere by when a suicide outcry is reported.  Counselors and other professionals helping assist with the student in crisis are required to administer the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) (Northside Independent School District Student-Parent Handbook, 2019).

Reference
Northside Independent School District Student-Parent Handbook. (2019). Retrieved from https://nisd.net/sites/default/files/pdf/handbooks/Secondary_Student-Parent_Handbook.pdf

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A.6 Appropriate Referrals and Advocacy
The ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors states that "school counselors should collaborate with all relevant stakeholders, including students, educators and parents/guardians when student assistance is needed, including the identification of early warning signs of student distress" (ASCA, 2019).

Suicide prevention begins with identifying and recognizing early warning signs of a student in distress. When a school counselor is equipped with the proper tools and strategies, they are then able to assist the student and family in suicide prevention.

Link:
https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/Ethics/EthicalStandards2016.pdf

Reference
American School Counselor Association. (2019). ASCA school counselor professional standards and competencies. [PDF file]. Alexandria, VA: Author. Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/home/SCCompetencies.pdf

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The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline website is a resource for educators, students, and families.  Their website provides information that will build understanding and provide support.  There are a number of resources provided within the website that would benefit someone who has suicide ideation (National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, n.d.).

Link:
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org

Reference
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org

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Slide #13 Recommendations and Best Practices

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Slide #13 Recommendations and Best Practices

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The following are recommendations and best practices for legal compliance to achieve suicide prevention and teacher responsibilities:

understand local policy when reporting a suicide outcry

stay up-to-date with changes in protocol

detect early warning signs of a student in distress

provide students with coping strategies when they are in distress

have active and regular conversations with students and parents

become familiar with the C-SSRS