Program Definition

Guidance and counseling is an integral part of each school's total educational program. It is developmental by design and includes sequential activities organized and implemented by certified school counselors with the support of teachers, administrators, students, and parents. The guidance program involves the following areas:

Guidance Curriculum includes structured developmental experiences presented systematically through classroom and group activities, kindergarten through grade twelve. The curriculum emphasizes competencies in career planning and exploration, knowledge of self and others, and educational and vocational development.

Individual Planning includes counseling activities to assist all students to plan, monitor and manage their own learning as well as their personal and career development. Individual planning emphasizes test interpretation, informal counseling, educational counseling, including college and post-secondary vocational-technical planning, and career planning.

Responsive Services includes counseling or referral activities to meet the immediate needs and concerns of students. Responsive services include personal counseling, crisis counseling, agency referral, consultation for parents, teachers and other professionals, support groups and problem solving.

System Support includes indirect guidance management activities that maintain and enhance the total guidance program. Responsibilities in this component include staff and community relations, committees, and professional development.

Program Philosophy

The District believes that the guidance program is an important and integral part of the overall educational process. Since students develop emotionally, socially, and educationally, the guidance program must address the issue of total growth and development. Growth and learning are developmental; therefore, guidance must be development and sequential. The need for guidance begins with preschool entrance and continues throughout life.

The K-12 developmental program is concerned with all students while recognizing the fact that individuals have needs that will continue to require social attention. As a result, the comprehensive guidance program is for all students and becomes developmental rather than crisis-oriented.

Confidentiality

The main purpose of confidentiality is to offer students a relationship in which they will be able to deal with what concerns them without fear of disclosure. Therefore, it will be the professional responsibility of school counselors in Hallsville R-IV School District to respect fully the right of privacy of those with whom they enter counseling relationships.

Confidentiality must not be abridged by the counselor except:

1. Where there is a clear and present danger to the client or to other persons.
2. To consult with other professionally competent persons when this is in the interest of the client, or
3. When the client verbally or in writing waives this privilege.

Records of the counseling relationship including interview notes, test data, correspondence, tape recordings, and other documents are to be considered professional information for use in counseling, and they are not part of the public or official records of the institution in which the counselor is employed. Revelation to others of counseling materials should occur only upon the express consent of the student.

The school counselor and his/her client must be provided with adequate physical facilities that guarantee the confidentiality of the counseling relationship.