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Committee clarifies student support licensing definitions, requires parent consent language after HB 281
Summary
The committee amended R277-313 to clarify how school counselors, psychologists and social workers may provide services, aligned mental-health terminology with state statute, and added a parent-consent requirement except as permitted in statute.
The Rules Committee approved amendments to R277-313 (student support licensing areas of concentration) to align licensure language with statutory requirements enacted in recent legislation and to clarify what student support professionals may provide in schools.
Staff presented the rule as a follow-up to HB 281. Committee members and staff focused on three areas: (1) defining “mental health services” by reference to the statutory definition of practicing mental health therapy (to avoid duplication and confusion); (2) clarifying the scope of services school counselors may provide (the committee removed language that would have prohibited certain restricted services and instead specified that counselors provide services "in a school as defined in rule R277-306 and section 53G-9-901" within the scope of their licensure); and (3) adding an explicit parent-consent provision requiring written parent permission prior to working with students except as permitted by statute (53G-9-902).
During committee discussion a public commenter, Heidi Alder (school attorney), asked the committee to hold the rule to allow practitioners and attorneys more time to vet a revised draft; the committee proceeded with amendments and unanimously approved the amended draft on first reading and forwarded it to the full board for second/final reading. The committee’s approved language replaces a local draft definition of “mental health services” with a statutory cross-reference (practicing mental health therapy per 58-60-102(17)) and includes a parent-consent subsection that staff will operationalize in guidance materials.
Committee members said the amendments aim to preserve clarity about what each licensed student-support role may perform and to avoid unintentionally restricting school psychologists and social workers who hold dual licenses; they requested staff ensure the final text aligns with the statute and with R277-306 definitions of school settings.
