THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 28, 1994 TAG: 9410280618
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
The state Board of Education reached for middle ground Thursday in approving proposed rules to govern the interaction between school guidance counselors and students.
In an 8-1 vote, the board rejected an Allen administration proposal that would have required written permission from parents before their children could receive any counseling other than for academic or career guidance.
The Allen plan, pushed by Superintendent William C. Bosher Jr., would have dramatically changed the way most schools offer guidance services.
The route the board chose guarantees more parental involvement than now exists but still allows schools to maintain their current practice of offering classroom and emergency counseling sessions without a parent's written OK.
Under the proposed rules, which will go to a public hearing before approval, schools would have to notify parents about the purpose and types of guidance programs offered. Parents also would have a chance to help determine counseling needs at their children's schools and select guidance materials used.
``I think the board has taken a giant step by assuring effective parental notification and parental involvement that should have been in place all along,'' said Darrel L. Mason, board vice president, who offered the alternative plan.
While disappointed, Bosher said the board's action ``moves in the direction of resolving the concerns.'' The centerpiece of Bosher's plan was a provision called ``opt in,'' which would require parents to give permission before their children received counseling. Currently, parents can ``opt out'' of counseling for their children.
Bosher said his plan would have best ensured parental rights. By rejecting it, the board missed an opportunity ``to reaffirm that home is the first and last contact,'' Bosher said.
``It's not that there's pervasive harm going on, it's just that it is inherently the right of the family to participate,'' Bosher said.
Board member Michelle Easton, one of two Allen appointees on the nine-member board, cast the sole vote against the alternative plan. She backed Bosher's more conservative plan.
``I think it supports the basic underlying premise that no one cares for a child like a mom or dad,'' Easton said. ``The notion that parents who opt out are under suspicion is offensive to me.''
Mason's compromise plan requires parental permission before a child can take part in ``structured'' counseling involving personal issues, such as dealing with parents who are getting a divorce or are alcoholics.
By contrast, classroom counseling dealing with such issues as conflict resolution between students or peer mediation would not require parental consent.
Critics of Bosher's plan worried that disadvantaged children who most needed adult counseling might not be able to get it if parental permission was required in all cases.
``I feared that the `opt-in' provision would be to the disadvantage of children of illiterate parents, or parents who don't speak English and just happen to be disengaged,'' said Robley S. Jones, president of the Virginia Education Association. ``The children most in need of counseling would have been denied on a technicality.''
To address that concern, board members voted to allow local school boards the option of letting schools offer personal counseling to kids without parental consent in cases where principals and counselors verify that parents failed to respond to requests for permission. ILLUSTRATION: PROPOSED GUIDELINES
Do not require parental consent for:
Academic or career guidance
Classroom guidance in conflict resolution or other general
topics
Individual sessions for ``normal developmental concerns'' or
emergency situations
Do require parental consent for:
``Structured'' and on-going counseling for groups of students or
an individual to deal with personal issues
Local school boards would have option of adopting guidelines to
waive written consent in cases where school principals and
counselors verify that parents failed to respond to requests for
permission.
by CNB