Senate Bill No. 593
(By Senator Snyder)
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[Introduced February 20, 2004; referred to the Committee on
Education; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §18-5-18b of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to county boards of education; and
requiring reimbursement from funds appropriated to the state
department of education for the full cost of providing school
counselors at each public school in the county.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-5-18b of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-18b. School counselors in public schools.
(a) A school counselor means a professional educator who holds
a valid school counselor's certificate in accordance with article
three of this chapter.
(b) Each county board shall provide counseling services for
each pupil enrolled in the public schools of the county and shall provide one counselor for each public school in the county.
(c) The school counselor shall work with individual pupils and
groups of pupils in providing developmental, preventive and
remedial guidance and counseling programs to meet academic, social,
emotional and physical needs; including programs to identify and
address the problem of potential school dropouts. The school
counselor also may provide consultant services for parents,
teachers and administrators and may use outside referral services,
when appropriate, if no additional cost is incurred by the county
board.
(d) The state board may adopt rules consistent with the
provisions of this section that define the role of a school
counselor based on the "National Standards for School Counseling
Programs" of the American school counselor association. A school
counselor is authorized to perform such services as are not
inconsistent with the provisions of the rule as adopted by the
state board. To the extent that any funds are made available for
this purpose, county boards shall provide training for counselors
and administrators to implement the rule as adopted by the state
board.
(e) Each county board shall develop a comprehensive drop-out
prevention program utilizing the expertise of school counselors and
any other appropriate resources available.
(f) School counselors shall be full-time professional personnel, shall spend at least seventy-five percent of work time
in a direct counseling relationship with pupils, and shall devote
no more than one fourth of the work day to administrative
activities: Provided, That such activities are counselor related.
(g) Nothing in this section prohibits a county board from
exceeding the provisions of this section, or requires any specific
level of funding by the Legislature.
Notwithstanding the provisions of article nine-a of this
chapter, effective the first day of July, two thousand four, county
boards of education shall be reimbursed from funds appropriated to
the state department of education annually for the full cost of
employing a school counselor for each public school in the county
under the provisions of this section from funds appropriated to the
department of education.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that county
boards of education shall be reimbursed annually for the full cost
of providing school counselors at each public school from funds
appropriated to the state department of education.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.