State education staff preview new statewide school counseling plan, open it for expert and public review

State Department of Education staff on Monday outlined a newly drafted K—12 school counseling plan they say updates a document that has not been revised in more than two decades and will shortly enter public review.

Blake Busman, the department's course-of-study administrator, told the State Board of Education's work session that the state convened a task force in the spring to produce an "Alabama-specific" counseling framework. "We have over 100 expert reviewers out in the field of school counseling conducting a very thorough expert review," Busman said, adding that those reviews are due to the department on the following Monday and will inform changes before the public review begins.

Why it matters: Board members said the counseling plan will affect how districts structure counselor duties, parent partnerships and evaluations. Presenters emphasized the plan is meant to be an instructional, statewide model that local districts can implement and adapt, and they said the draft stresses parent engagement, alignment to the state's MTSS framework and clearer counselor responsibilities.

Scope and definitions: Presenters repeatedly distinguished "school counselor" as the professional certificate title for district-employed staff who lead school counseling programs from licensed mental-health providers. In response to questions, presenters said the plan does not authorize school counselors to provide unsupervised therapeutic services; therapy would require parental opt-in and appropriate clinical procedures. "Our certificates say school counselor," a presenter said, "...when we say school counselor, we mean the actual educator that's in each of our schools at the school level who is leading that instructional program." (Statements summarized from the presentation.)

Parent input and evaluation: Board members asked whether parents will have a role in evaluating counselors. Presenters said each counseling program must perform an annual program assessment that includes input from teachers, parents and students; an evaluation tool under development could incorporate parent perception data. "Part of that assessment that's required every year is input from the teachers, parents, and the students," a presenter said.

Next steps and public review: Presenters said the department planned a press release to make the draft widely available and invited board members to share the document with districts and stakeholders. Staff set a public-comment window to run from the release through Monday, Nov. 10, allowing districts, parents and other stakeholders to submit feedback before the department finalizes edits for a future board presentation.

The department asked board members to withhold direct public distribution of committee deliberations during the contract or review period, noting some draft materials will be posted by the department for review. The plan will return to the board for further review and a possible adoption vote after expert and public feedback are considered.