                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

SCHOOL COUNSELORS; STAFF TIME (§ 22.1-291.1:1)

A. As used in this section:
			&#8220;Appraisal and advisement&#8221; means the act of assisting students in
exploring their abilities, interests, skills, and achievement to make decisions
and develop immediate and long-range goals and plans.			&#8220;Consultation,
collaboration, and referrals&#8221; means the act of (i) providing information
to and receiving information from individuals or teams to support a
student&#8217;s needs; (ii) working and communicating with parents, teachers,
administrators, other school staff, and community stakeholders to (a) promote
achievement for a specific student or (b) promote systemic change to address the
needs of groups of underserved or underrepresented groups of students; and (iii)
referring students to outside providers and resources as
necessary.			&#8220;Crisis counseling&#8221; means the act of providing
counseling to individual students or small groups of students to help such
students navigate critical situations such as emergencies and
crises.			&#8220;Direct counseling&#8221; means school counseling curriculum
lessons and activities, individual counseling, small group counseling, crisis
counseling, appraisal and advisement, and consultation, collaboration, and
referrals. &#8220;Direct counseling&#8221; does not include program planning and
school support.			&#8220;Individual counseling&#8221; means the act of providing
developmentally appropriate, goal-focused, and brief counseling sessions to
individual students to address issues relating to mental health and wellness,
social and emotional development, academic achievement, and college and career
readiness.			&#8220;Program planning and school support&#8221; means the act of
defining, planning, managing, and assessing school counseling activities.
&#8220;Program planning and school support&#8221; includes the act of reviewing
data, creating annual student outcome goals, creating action plans and results
reports, holding annual administrative conferences, monitoring use-of-time,
creating annual and weekly calendars, and facilitating school counseling
advisory councils.			&#8220;School counseling curriculum lessons and
activities&#8221; means the act of providing data-informed lessons or activities
at the classroom level or on a schoolwide basis to provide students with the
knowledge, attitudes, and skills appropriate for their developmental
levels.			&#8220;Small group counseling&#8221; means the act of providing
counseling to small groups of students with similar developmental or situational
challenges with the goal of improving achievement, attendance, mental health or
wellness, or behavioral outcomes.

B. Each school counselor employed by a school board in a public elementary or
secondary school shall spend at least 80 percent of his staff time during normal
school hours in the direct counseling of individual students or groups of
students and may spend up to 20 percent of his staff time during normal school
hours on program planning and school support.

HISTORY: 2019, c. 139; 2023, cc. 347, 349.