Florida Senate - 2022                             CS for SB 1404
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Children, Families, and Elder Affairs; and
       Senators Jones and Rouson
       
       
       
       
       586-02809-22                                          20221404c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to certified school counselors;
    3         creating s. 1012.461, F.S.; providing certification
    4         requirements for school counselors; requiring
    5         certified school counselors to provide a certain
    6         program for a specified purpose; providing program
    7         requirements; authorizing such counselors to perform
    8         certain duties; prohibiting such counselors from
    9         performing certain duties; authorizing such counselors
   10         to perform specified additional duties under certain
   11         circumstances; providing an effective date.
   12          
   13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   14  
   15         Section 1. Section 1012.461, Florida Statutes, is created
   16  to read:
   17         1012.461Certified school counselors; authorized duties.—
   18         (1)Certified school counselors must, at a minimum, hold
   19  the certificate required by law and by rule of the State Board
   20  of Education pursuant to s. 1012.55(1)(b). Certified school
   21  counselors must abide by the American School Counselor
   22  Association’s Ethical Standards for School Counselors and
   23  provide a student-centered, data-informed, and outcome-oriented
   24  program that is integrated into the curricula and prepares
   25  students in prekindergarten through grade 12 for postsecondary
   26  education and training or a career. The program must be designed
   27  using the Department of Education’s Florida’s School Counseling
   28  Framework. School principals must use certified school
   29  counselors to deliver appropriate direct and indirect services
   30  to students pursuant to the American School Counselor
   31  Association’s national model. Such delivery of services means
   32  working directly with students, instructional personnel, school
   33  administrators, parents, other school personnel, and the
   34  community to achieve an integrated approach to students’
   35  educational success and an effective transition to postsecondary
   36  education and training or a career and may include services
   37  recommended by the American School Counselor Association. A
   38  certified school counselor may perform the following duties,
   39  which are recommended by the American School Counselor
   40  Association:
   41         (a)Advisement appraisal for academic planning, including,
   42  but not limited to, for postsecondary education and training or
   43  career coaching.
   44         (b)Orientation, coordination, and academic advising for
   45  new students. However, a certified school counselor may not
   46  perform the clerical duties of coordinating paperwork or data
   47  entry for such students.
   48         (c)Interpreting and supporting school administrators,
   49  instructional personnel, students, and students’ parents in
   50  understanding students’ cognitive, aptitude, and achievement
   51  tests. However, a certified school counselor may not serve as a
   52  testing coordinator.
   53         (d)Providing counseling to students who are late to or
   54  absent from school.
   55         (e)Providing mental health supports to students,
   56  including, but not limited to, individual and small group
   57  counseling, including short-term counseling; mental health
   58  services; suicide screenings and assessments; and collaborating
   59  with other school personnel, medical professionals, and
   60  community-based partners to provide referrals to both students
   61  and their families.
   62         (f)Supporting students’ social and emotional learning
   63  through classroom lessons and counseling.
   64         (g)Consulting with classroom teachers to schedule and
   65  present school counseling curriculum lessons based on students’
   66  developmental needs. Such needs must be determined using data
   67  analyzed by certified school counselors.
   68         (h)Interpreting students’ records and, pursuant to state
   69  and federal law, rule, and regulation, protecting students’
   70  records and information. A certified school counselor must focus
   71  on delivering direct services to students and may not perform
   72  clerical duties, including, but not limited to, maintaining
   73  students’ records, maintaining students’ cumulative folders, or
   74  inputting students’ grades.
   75         (i)Analyzing students’ grade point averages and their
   76  relationship to students’ achievement.
   77         (j)Consulting with classroom teachers about building
   78  classroom connections, managing effective classrooms, and the
   79  role of noncognitive factors in students’ success.
   80         (k)Consulting with a variety of stakeholders including,
   81  but not limited to, school principals and other school
   82  administrators, instructional personnel, parents, student
   83  services personnel, and other school personnel to identify and
   84  resolve students’ issues, needs, and problems. A certified
   85  school counselor must be a nonjudgmental advocate for students,
   86  rather than a disciplinarian, and may not perform administrator
   87  specific duties, including, but not limited to, building the
   88  master schedule.
   89         (l)Advocating for students by participating as a team
   90  member, but not as a team leader, in individual education plan
   91  meetings, student study teams, responses to intervention plans,
   92  Section 504 plan meetings, multitiered systems of support, and
   93  school attendance review boards.
   94         (m)Analyzing disaggregated schoolwide and school
   95  counseling program data for the delivery of programs and
   96  strategies to improve school success.
   97         (n)Working with students of diverse backgrounds to create
   98  a positive and inclusive school culture for all students.
   99         (2)A certified school counselor may also perform the
  100  following additional duties if such duties are required to be
  101  performed by the majority of instructional personnel during the
  102  school year:
  103         (a)Covering classrooms when classroom teachers are absent
  104  or creating planning times for classroom teachers.
  105         (b)Supervising common areas, including, but not limited
  106  to, the school’s cafeteria during lunch periods or the areas
  107  where school buses drop off or pick up students before or after
  108  school.
  109         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.