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 1012.461 Certified 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.