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Lansberry Elementary
Grades: K-5th
On campus personnel:
Principal - 1
Assistant Principals - 2
Counselors - 1
Students: Approximately 600

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Ehrhardt Elementary
Grades: PK-5th
On campus personnel:
Principal - 1
Assistant Principal - 1
Counselor - 1
Students: Approximately 750

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Early Primary
Grades: PK-2nd
On campus personnel:
Principal - 1
Assistant Principal - 0
Counselor - 1
Students: Approximately 270

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Richland Springs School
Grades: K-12
On campus personnel:
Principal - 1
Assistant Principal - 0
Counselor - 0
Students: Approximately 120

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Central Office

District Campuses:
Brownwood HS
Principal - 1
Assistant Principals -2
Counselors - 4
Students: Approximately 1000

Brownwood MS
Principal - 1
Assistant Principal - 1
Counselors - 1
Students: Approximately 500

Coggin Intermediate
Principal - 1
Assistant Principals - 2
Counselors - 2
Students: Approximately 825

East Elementary:
Principal - 1
Assistant Principal - 0
Counselors - 2
Students: Approximately 300

Northwest Elementary:
Principal - 1
Assistant Principal - 1
Counselors - 1
Students: Approximately 575

Woodland Heights Elementary:
Principal - 1
Assistant Principal - 1
Counselors - 1
Students: Approximately 425

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Principal's Questions (answered from a district level perspective)

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Principal's Questions (answered from a district level perspective)

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What is House Bill 18 and what does it mean for schools in Texas?

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What is House Bill 18 and what does it mean for schools in Texas?

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"House Bill 18 is a revolutionary bill which creates an increased focus on the importance of mental health awareness in the school setting.  Teachers are now to be educated in an empirically based grief and trauma sensitive approach, and educated as to the effects of trauma and mental health struggles on our students.  In addition, schools are required to develop a plan for implementing not only training with teachers and staff, but a multi-tiered system for mental health support of students that may struggle.   This plan encourages school counselors to have more of a direct role in counseling, as opposed to the administrative support roles they are frequently placed into (504 management, STAAR test coordination) by specifically referencing the Texas Model of Comprehensive Counseling Programs as a guide to how the school counseling programs should be implemented, as well as a plan to evaluate the counselors and schools as to successful implementation of that plan.  Additionally, it requires students to be educated on mental health in addition to physical health during health courses."
(D. Howard, personal communication, October 25, 2020)

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What will your role be in implementing the requirements of HB 18?

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What will your role be in implementing the requirements of HB 18?

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"Last year, I was hired by Brownwood ISD as Mental Health Specialist in charge of the direction of the Mental Health Initiative, in direct relation to this bill, and our own board’s passion for advocating for mental health.  So far, we have developed a multi-tiered structure, and a 3 phased plan with Beginning of the Year, Middle of the Year, and End of the Year assessments to develop plans, and measure progress towards addressing mental health concerns for our students.  Additionally, we, have a multi-disciplinary mental health committee meet on a regular basis to determine next best steps for our particular district.  Currently, we are involved in the HELP grant and the SHAPE grant from our specific region (Region 15) which has been instrumental in pushing this movement forward.  The SHAPE grant is at no cost to the district, and allows us to assess where we are through a series of self-assessment questionnaires and district and campus wide needs assessments, and make plans as to next steps and goals, and provides a Region wide part time consultant.  Specifically, this grant is designed to help give the state feedback as to the progress from small and rural schools in order that they may learn how to best support our needs in future.  There is some resource money attached to this, but honestly not much with $70000 split among all participants.  The HELP grant allowed us to give 3 teachers the opportunity for a free Master’s Degree through Angelo State University in working towards their school counseling certification.  (It would have allowed up to 5 for Brownwood due to our student:counselor ratio, but there was additional investment on the district’s end, and 3 were accepted.). The conditions include that they will have the opportunity to intern for 2 years prior to getting certified, with $25K assistance stipend per counselor.  The advantage being our Student:Counselor ratio significantly declines with the addition of 3 extra counselors, the disadvantage being the cost of the additional salaries both during training, and thereafter."
(D. Howard, personal communication, October 25, 2020)

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What is House Bill 18 and what does it mean for schools in Texas?

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What is House Bill 18 and what does it mean for schools in Texas?

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"More regulations"
(N. Chapman, personal communication, October 24, 2020)

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What will your role be in implementing HB 18?

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What will your role be in implementing HB 18?

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"My role as the school counselor is to support the SEL of all students that I serve and practice positive behavioral strategies that promote shaping behaviors and increasing success for all students."
(J. Hutchinson, personal communication, October 24, 2020)

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What will your role be in implementing HB 18?

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What will your role be in implementing HB 18?

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"I will implement a comprehensive school program. I am at a small district and have many other non-counseling duties. I can't follow the Texas Model exactly because of all of my extra duties. I think it will be very hard for all smaller districts to be able to do this."
(B. Groom, personal communication, October 24, 2020)

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What will your role be in implementing the requirements of HB 18?

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What will your role be in implementing the requirements of HB 18?

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"Not sure"
(N. Chapman, personal
communication, October 24,  2020)

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What kind of resources do you need, if any, to support HB 18?

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What kind of resources do you need, if any, to support HB 18?

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"The school district has put many new positions in place, brought in additional training for staff, and implemented new programs to support mental health and SEL learning across the district."
(J. Hutchinson, personal communication, October 24, 2020)

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What kind of resources do you need, if any, to support HB 18?

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What kind of resources do you need, if any, to support HB 18?

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Did not answer

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What resources will be required, and how will those be funded?

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What resources will be required, and how will those be funded?

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"Fortunately for Brownwood ISD, we have long had the policy that counselors are for counseling, so the transition to remove administrative work (for the most part) has not been as significant a struggle as it has been in other districts.  We have had to add the resources mentioned above, and for my own role as the District Mental Health Counselor, while my salary was partially funded (we get a small amount per child to have a mental health program), the funding covered less than half.  While we are temporarily allowed to add the counselor interns at a lesser percentage of their salary due to the HELP grant, when they are finished with school, we will have to fund the entirety should we maintain them as full time counselors.  Most districts would have to add staff to perform the administrative tasks that often fall onto the counselors in order to comply with the Texas Comprehensive Model of School Counseling, though we have not had as significant of a struggle there, again thanks to our board’s prioritizing mental health for quite some time.  We have had to be active in seeking out appropriate resources for trauma/grief informed care and training, though recently the Region ESC has been active in providing more mental health training and resources than has ever been seen.  Time from staff to focus on training for Mental Health First Aid, Grief and Trauma Informed Care, PBIS, and the SB 460 requirements have been significant, and in addition to already required training for traditionally academic needs.  This is especially noticeable in our 2 campuses under administrative review under TEA.  They get conflicting messages at time to focus more on academics than behavior, and then he"ar that academics cannot benefit without mental health and behavioral awareness.  These can be challenging concepts to juggle."
(D. Howard, personal communication, October 25, 2020)

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What resources will be required, and how will those be funded?

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What resources will be required, and how will those be funded?

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"Medical supplies. Not sure how those are funded."
(N. Chapman, personal
communication, October 24,  2020)

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How can a campus administrator best support the HB 18 initiatives from your perspective?

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How can a campus administrator best support the HB 18 initiatives from your perspective?

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"In my opinion, the best way a campus administrator can support HB 18 is by truly seeing the value of the bill and what it provides our students. Along with valuing what the bill provides, also allowing for flexibility in schedules so I am able to provide the SEL opportunities to all students on our campus."
(J. Hutchinson, personal communication, October 24, 2020)

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How can a campus administrator best support the HB 18 initiatives from your perspective?

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How can a campus administrator best support the HB 18 initiatives from your perspective?

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"With any new initiatives, it is important for the administrators to communicate clearly with staff about expectations, have trainings that are pertinent, and follow up with help in implementing."
(B. Groom, personal communication, October 24, 2020)

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Counselor's Questions (answered from a district level perspective)

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Counselor's Questions (answered from a district level perspective)

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What kind of resources do you need, if any, to support HB 18?

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What kind of resources do you need, if any, to support HB 18?

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"Campus Counselors rely heavily on administrative support for implementation of their programs, and fulfillment of their goals.  In additional to needing additional training regarding Grief and Trauma informed care themselves, they need to be allowed opportunities into the classroom for guidance lessons, time for responsive services, and to minimize time for administrative tasks such as 504, STAAR test coordination, RTI coordination, Registrar duties, and the like."
(D. Howard, personal communication, October 25, 2020)

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What will your role be in implementing HB 18?

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What will your role be in implementing HB 18?

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"School counselors roles with this bill (at least in our district) include making a Beginning of the Year plan to lay out how they will be fulfilling their roles according to the Texas Comprehensive Model for School Counseling.  They send out Campus Needs Assessments, set goals for their campus programs, and perform a vital role in referring students in need to the multi-tiered approach."
(D. Howard, personal communication, October 25, 2020)

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How can a campus administrator best support the HB 18 initiatives from your perspective?

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How can a campus administrator best support the HB 18 initiatives from your perspective?

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"Campus administrators need to be protective of the counselors role, allowing them to function as counselors, and to understand it is inappropriate for them to act as disciplinarians.  Ongoing communication between principal and school counselor is a must, and opportunities to share the goals of the Texas Comprehensive Model for School Counseling Programs, and their program evaluation and progress through the goals will allow principals, counselors, teachers, and community to see the mutually beneficial goals of allowing counselors to counsel, and focus on the mental health of students."
(D. Howard, personal communication, October 25, 2020)

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Observations and Reflections on the Interviews

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Observations and Reflections on the Interviews

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When I began this assignment, I thought it would be a simple interview/response. But I was sadly mistaken, My campus principal was my first interview. She had heard about HB 18 but wasn't sure of all that it entailed but thought it mainly concerned counselors, which we do not have employed by the district.

I posed the questions to some of my friends that are principals, assistant principals and counselors in other school districts. I had a couple reply that they really couldn't answer the questions because they didn't know enough about the bill or how it was to be implemented. One of those referred me to another person in the district.

The principal must be up-to-date on all legislation and how it pertains to the campus, no matter what size the campus may be. The key to successful implementation is communication - between principal and counselor, principal and teachers, and counselors and teachers.

All staff need to be knowledgeable about the bill and its requirements for training and program components. This is not just something that affects a few people on campus. This affects everyone on campus - administration, counselors, teachers, staff, and students. The subject of Mental Health cannot be taboo any longer. We must keep it in the forefront of our minds and be on the lookout for signs of trouble or concern and not be afraid to talk about it.