ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 21, 1996 TAG: 9601220095
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Virginia's shift to local control of guidance and counseling programs is a "mixed blessing" for school systems and could still produce controversy in some localities, Salem Superintendent Wayne Tripp says.
"The good news is this will give localities some leeway, but it is a two-edged sword," Tripp said Friday. "I can see the same type of discussion in some places that they've had at the state level, and it has the potential to be a thorny issue."
The state Board of Education voted Thursday to relinquish control of guidance programs and to let local school boards develop their own policies on the issues of confidentiality and parental notification.
Tripp was happy that the board did not impose a statewide mandate to require parental permission before counselors can talk with children about personal, social or other nonacademic areas of their lives.
Conservative allies of Gov. George Allen have pushed for such a policy, called "opt-in," saying parents are entitled to decide whether their children see a counselor.
Currently, children can participate in counseling sessions unless their parents take the initiative and sign a form asking that they not be involved. This procedure, called "opt-out," has the support of many counselors and educators.
The issue is complicated, but schools and parents must have confidence in counselors to handle cases professionally and appropriately, Tripp said.
Roanoke County Superintendent Deanna Gordon said her preference was that the board would have "stayed the course and kept the opt-out policy," but she understands there are differing sentiments in other localities.
"It's hard to argue with local control," she said. "What the board did is far preferable to an opt-in policy."
Gordon doesn't anticipate that the board's decision will cause any change in Roanoke County's guidance program.
"I don't see any movement to adopt an opt-in policy, so it really doesn't matter," she said.
Dale Johnson, a guidance counselor at Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, said he favors the shift to local control.
"Different localities have different needs, and local people are in better position to decide the issues," he said. "Even if there is disagreement and discussion in localities, I think the move to local control is a positive thing."
Johnson supports the current opt-out policy, saying students should have easy access to counselors because social and family conditions have changed significantly in recent decades. "As times have changed, schools have had to take on additional roles."
Gary Kelly, Roanoke County's director of guidance, said the opt-out policy has worked smoothly with no controversy. Whenever a child has been in long-term counseling, he said, the county has sought parental permission.
Garland Jones, Botetourt County's assistant superintendent, doesn't expect the board's decision to have any impact in his county. "We haven't had any problems or complaints," he said.
Rob Jones, president of the Virginia Education Association, said the teachers' organization wanted the board to keep the statewide opt-out policy. But it preferred local control over the proposed statewide opt-in policy, he said.
"We won one battle, but now there might be other battles before 136 local school boards," he said.
Republican legislators failed last year in an attempt to pass a bill in the General Assembly that would have mandated an opt-in policy.
James P. Jones, board president and former Democratic state legislator from Abingdon, said "a one-size-fits-all prescription from Richmond" was not what was needed on the guidance issue. Only one Allen appointee to the board supported the shift to local control, which was approved on a 5-4 vote.
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