The United States Department of Education is the federal agency for all education in the United States. The U.S. Department of Education (2018) describes itself as the government agency that "establishes policy for, administers and coordinates most federal assistance to education. It assists the president in executing his education policies for the nation and in implementing laws enacted by Congress" (para. 1). The U.S. Department of Education has established programs that provide guidance and support for school counselors. Regarding confidentiality and its limits, the U.S. Department of Education was responsible for the enacting of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) (U.S. Department of Education, 2018).

State Governing Agency

The Texas Education Agency is the legal agency that governs the Texas Public School System, including the school counselors. The Texas Education Agency (2020) states, “The Texas Education Agency improves outcomes for all public school students in the state by providing leadership, guidance, and support to school systems,” (para. 1). The laws and rules outlined for the school system are written by the Texas Legislature and U.S. Congress and adopted by the commissioner of education, the State Board of Education, and the State Board for Education Certification (Texas Education Agency, 2020). The school district’s administrators are going to be responsible for making sure school counselors are upholding their ethical standards. Once a violation has been reported, according to the 19 Tex. Admin. Code §247.1, “The SBEC is solely responsible for enforcing the Educators' Code of Ethics for purposes related to certification disciplinary proceedings” (part c).

The United States Constitution protects the rights of all US citizens, including children. The US Constitution states, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States,”  (U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1).

• No state shall deny an education to any individual living in a state that provides a public school system

• Without a right to free education, children would not be provided with the opportunity to school counselors

• If education is denied to any child, there would be legal consequences

Texas Constitutional Law- Tex. Const. art IX,  § 1

Similar to the U.S. Constitution the Texas Constitution requires Texas to support and maintain Public Free Schools. The Texas Constitution states, “It shall be the duty of the Legislature of this State, to make suitable provisions for the support and maintenance of a system of Public Free Schools,” (Tex. Const. art IX,  § 1).

• without the support provided by the state, schools would not be able to provide the students with a counselor to provide their services

The Code of Federal Regulations states that “A recipient to which this subpart applies that provides personal, academic, or vocational counseling, guidance, or placement services to its students shall provide these services without discrimination on the basis of handicap,” (34 CFR. § 104.37, part b).

• enforces that all students are provided with counseling services regardless if they are handicapped

• confidentiality must be provided to all students

Federal Administrative Law- Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (1974)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (1974), states, “If the educational agency or institution determines that there is an articulable and significant threat to the health or safety of a student or other individuals, it may disclose information from education records to any person whose knowledge of the information is necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other individuals".

• The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act is a federal law that protects the privacy of students’ education records

• Dealing with the limits of confidentiality.

• If a counselor does not provide information that could help with the safety and security of a student it violates the ethical standards

• could lead to legal consequences

Eisel v. Board of Education (1992) helped to establish a counselor's tort liability for a student's suicide. According to Stone (2013), "Eisel strengthened school counselors’ legal obligation to students by satisfying for the first time the primary element of negligence, declaring school counselors have a special relationship with students and owe a duty to try to act when placed on notice that a student is possibly suicidal" (para. 10).

• Court ruled school counselors must notify parents of possible suicide threats

• Threats of self-harm, harming others, or suspected abuse must be reported

• "Confidentiality does not bar the duty, given that the school policy explicitly disavows confidentiality when suicide is the concern" (Eisel. v Board of Education, 1992)

  
  

The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (1978), states no student shall partake in the following without prior consent "Psychiatric or psychological treatment [meaning] an activity involving the planned, systematic use of methods or techniques that are not directly related to academic instruction and that is designed to affect behavioral, emotional, or attitudinal characteristics of an individual or group" (c. 2).

• certain rights for parents of students

• regarding, student participation, collection, disclosure, and use of personal information

• if a school district violates the PPRA, they could lose funding

The Early Elementary Student Handbook (2023) states, "The district will not provide a mental health care service to a student or conduct a medical screening of a student as part of the district’s intervention procedures except as permitted by law. The district has established procedures for recommending to a parent an intervention for a student with early warning signs of mental health concerns, substance abuse, or suicide risk. " (p. 11).

• The school counselor will contact the parents quickly if warning signs are seen

• recommendations and resources will be given to the parent

• short term counseling can be provided, if permitted

• long term counselor will be recommended, if needed or required

• First and foremost school counselors should always "explain the meaning and limits of confidentiality to students in developmentally appropriate terms" and "provide appropriate disclosure and informed consent regarding the counseling relationship and confidentiality" (American School Counselor, 2022). This establishes expectations from the beginning and makes sure that the students, parents, and the. counselors are on the same page regarding confidentiality and its limits.

• School counselors should "communicate highly sensitive student information via face-to-face contact or phone call and not by e-mail or inserting into the educational record" (American School Counselor, 2022). This can prevent sensitive information from getting lost in translation or in the possession of the wrong individual.

• School counselors would lessen the chance of a confidentiality dilemma by "[informing] students and the family of the limits to confidentiality when: the student poses a danger to self or others, there is a court-ordered disclosure, consulting with other professionals, such as colleagues, supervisors, treatment teams and other support personnel, in support of the student," (American School Counselor, 2022).

This particular standard in the confidentiality section of the Code of Ethics directly connects with my topic. It states that information must be kept confidential unless the student's safety or well-being is at risk or they are legally mandated to give information. There is some discretion to be used by the school counselor when deciding whether or not the student is at risk, but it is safe to err on the side of caution.

I believe that each of the laws and standards has given me more of an understanding of what I will be doing as a counselor. It has given me a way to understand the potential consequences of not upholding my duties. It emphasizes the importance of knowing the laws and responsibilities before stepping into the role of a counselor.

34 C.F.R. § 104.37 

American School Counselor Association. (2022). ASCA ethical standards for school counselors. Schoolcounselor.org.

https://www.schoolcounselor.org/About- School-

Counseling/Ethical- Responsibilities/ASCA-Ethical-

Standards-for-School- Counselors-(1) 

American School Counselor Association. (2022). School

counselors and confidentiality. Schoolcounselor.org.

https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Standards-

Positions/Position-Statements/ASCA-Position-

Statements/The-School-Counselor-and- Confidentiality 

Early Independent School District. (2023). Early Elementary/Primary Student Handbook.

Eisel v. Board of Education, 597 A 2d 447 (Md. Ct. App. 1992).

https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?

case=11504838149536622397&q=confidentiality+and+school

+counselor&hl=e n&as_sdt=6,44 

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 34 CFR § 99.36

(1974). https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/ferpa 

Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, 34 C.F.R. § 98.4 (1978).

https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/content/ppra 

Stone, Carolyn. (2013). Suicide: err on the side of caution.

Schoolcounselor.org.

https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Magazines/September-

October-2013/Suicide-Err-on-the- Side-of-

Caution#:~:text=Eisel%20strengthened%20school%20counsel

ors'%20legal,a%2 0student%20is%20possibly%20suicidal. 

Tex. Const. art. IX, § 1 

Texas Education Agency. (2020). About TEA. Tea.texas.gov.  

https://tea.texas.gov/about-

tea#:~:text=The%20Texas%20Education%20Agency%20is‌ 

U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1 

U.S. Department of Education. (2018). An overview of the U.S.

Department of Education—Pg. 1. ed.gov.

http://www.ed.gov/about/overview/focus/what.html 

U.S. Department of Education. (2018). Protecting student

privacy | U.S. department of education. Ed.gov.

https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/