School counselors must counsel students and carry out listed counseling duties; school districts must adopt and follow a policy limiting noncounseling duties, with a few exceptions.
Sec. 33.006. SCHOOL COUNSELORS; GENERAL DUTIES. (a) The primary responsibility of a school counselor is to counsel students to fully develop each student's academic, career, personal, and social abilities. (b) In addition to a school counselor's responsibility under Subsection (a), the school counselor shall: (1) participate in planning, implementing, and evaluating a comprehensive developmental guidance program to serve all students and to address the special needs of students: (A) who are at risk of dropping out of school, becoming substance abusers, participating in gang activity, or committing suicide; (B) who are in need of modified instructional strategies; or (C) who are gifted and talented, with emphasis on identifying and serving gifted and talented students who are educationally disadvantaged; (2) consult with a student's parent or guardian and make referrals as appropriate in consultation with the student's parent or guardian; (3) consult with school staff, parents, and other community members to help them increase the effectiveness of student education and promote student success; (4) coordinate people and resources in the school, home, and community; (5) with the assistance of school staff, interpret standardized test results and other assessment data that help a student make educational and career plans; (6) deliver classroom guidance activities or serve as a consultant to teachers conducting lessons based on the school's guidance curriculum; and (7) serve as an impartial, nonreporting resource for interpersonal conflicts and discord involving two or more students, including accusations of bullying under Section 37.0832. (c) Nothing in Subsection (b)(7) exempts a school counselor from any mandatory reporting requirements imposed by other provisions of law. (d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), the board of trustees of each school district shall adopt a policy that requires a school counselor to spend at least 80 percent of the school counselor's total work time on duties that are components of a counseling program developed under Section 33.005. For purposes of this subsection, time spent in administering assessment instruments or providing other assistance in connection with assessment instruments, except time spent in interpreting data from assessment instruments, is not considered time spent on counseling. Each school in the district shall implement the policy. A copy of the policy shall be maintained in the office of each school in the district and made available on request during regular school hours to district employees, parents of district students, and the public. (e) If the board of trustees of a school district determines that, because of staffing needs in the district or at a school in the district, a school counselor must spend less than 80 percent of the school counselor's total work time on duties that are components of a counseling program developed under Section 33.005, the policy adopted under Subsection (d) shall: (1) include the reasons why the counselor needs to spend less than 80 percent of the counselor's work time on duties that are components of the counseling program; (2) list the duties the counselor is expected to perform that are not components of the counseling program; and (3) set the percentage of work time that the counselor is required to spend on components of the counseling program. (f) A school district may not include a provision in an employment contract with a school counselor under Chapter 21 that conflicts with the policy required by Subsection (d) or, except as provided by Subsection (g), has the effect of authorizing a school principal or school district superintendent to require a school counselor to generally perform duties that are not primarily related to a counseling function. (g) A school district to which Subsection (e) applies may not include a provision in an employment contract under Chapter 21 with an affected school counselor that has the effect of requiring the counselor to generally perform a duty that is not primarily related to a counseling function unless the duty is specified in the district's policy under Subsection (e)(2). (h) Each school district shall annually assess the district's compliance with the policy adopted under Subsection (d) and, on request by the commissioner, provide a written copy of the assessment to the agency on or before the date specified by the commissioner. The commissioner shall adopt rules to implement this subsection. Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, Sec. 1, eff. May 30, 1995. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1487, Sec. 3, eff. June 17, 2001. Amended by: Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 443 (S.B. 715), Sec. 30, eff. June 14, 2013. Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 443 (S.B. 715), Sec. 31, eff. June 14, 2013. Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 522 (S.B. 179), Sec. 10, eff. September 1, 2017. Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 938 (S.B. 179), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2021.