THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 19, 1996 TAG: 9601190626
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
Virginia's Board of Education voted by a 5-4 margin Thursday to relinquish control over school guidance and counseling programs and allow local school boards to develop their own policies.
Under a set of regulations adopted by the board, every school in Virginia still will be required to offer guidance and counseling services.
But, for the first time, local officials will be able to decide the politically charged issue that launched a statewide debate: whether parents should first give permission to schools before their kids talk to school counselors about personal, social or other non-academic areas of their lives.
Local school boards must adopt a guidance and counseling policy by July 1. In the past, school boards in Hampton Roads have supported the existing system of giving students easy access to counselors.
State board members called the vote a compromise between existing state policy that provides easy access to counselors and a more restrictive proposal that would have imposed a statewide mandate to require written parental permission before students could receive counseling.
``It is a compromise that in my view gets this issue off the table in a responsible way,'' said board member Alan Wurtzel, who offered the proposal.
The board majority said local school boards are in the best position to decide the matter, especially since more than two-thirds are now elected and directly accountable to voters in their districts.
``A one-size-fits-all prescription from Richmond is not what we need,'' said board President James P. Jones. ``The best thing we could do is to adopt regulations that say, in essence, `Local folks know best.' It solves a problem that is intensely local in a way that is fair and equitable.''
Conservative allies of Republican Gov. George F. Allen, as well as representatives of school counselors, were unhappy with the outcome - but for opposing reasons.
Conservatives defined the issue in terms of parental rights, saying parents were entitled to decide whether their children received counseling.
``I still believe we have an obligation to be sensitive to the concerns of families that are offended by what they view as a government intrusion into their lives,'' said board member Michelle Easton, one of five Allen appointees.
She helped draft an administration proposal that would have required parental permission.
Counselors said they worried that kids' well-being could be compromised, because some districts may decide to require parental permission. Currently, children can participate in classroom, small-group or individual counseling sessions unless their parents request that they not be involved.
In a typical day, counselors say, they help kids work through a multitude of concerns ranging from self-esteem and conflicts with other students to family crises.
``I have some real concerns with equity throughout the state,'' said Paul Galvin, a middle school counselor in Fairfax County and president of the Virginia School Counselor Association. ``What I think we've done is transfer the battle from the state board to local boards. I think there's some real possibilities of children in Virginia losing out on this.''
Board member Rayford Harris of Richmond was the only Allen-appointee to vote in favor of the compromise, saying he had ``to be fair to my conscience.''
Harris said he feared that many kids, especially from poor, inner-city neighborhoods, would be denied services if the Allen administration's plan was adopted.
Harris said he preferred the existing system, calling the Wurtzel proposal ``the lesser of two evils.''
GOP state legislators last year failed in an attempt to move a bill through the General Assembly that would have mandated parental permission.
Ken Stroupe, spokesman for Allen, said the governor viewed the board's action as ``a step in the right direction. It's not everything we had hoped for, but it's better than what we had.'' MEMO: KEY RULINGS
Highlights of state regulations adopted by the state Board of
Education.
Local schools must offer academic and career guidance, as well as
personal and social counseling that help students ``develop an
understanding of themselves, the rights and needs of others, how to
resolve conflict and to define individual goals, reflecting their
interests, abilities and aptitudes.''
No student can be forced to participate in any counseling program.
Local schools must provide written notification to parents, at least
annually, describing the types of counseling available, the purpose of
the program and how parents can limit their child's participation.
Counselors will be prohibited from using techniques beyond their
scope of training, including hypnosis or other psychotherapeutic
techniques.
Local school boards must decide the procedure by which parents can
elect in writing to allow their children to participate or withdraw
them from participation. In deciding the policy, the board could
distinguish between group or individual counseling sessions.
Boards that require written parental permission before counseling
services are offered must make provisions for those children who may
need services but whose parents fail to respond to ``reasonable''
requests from school officials for consent. by CNB