Dozens of school counselors and education leaders from around the state stood behind Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Thursday as he signed a new law that will require school counselors to have more face-to-face time with students.
"Direct counseling is important both from an academic standpoint and a school safety standpoint," Hutchinson said at North Little Rock High School, where the bill signing took place. "This bill helps us get to where we need to go."
Act 190, which was Senate Bill 199, sponsored by Sen. Breanne Davis, R-Russellville, and Rep. DeAnn Vaught, R-Horatio, establishes the School Counseling Improvement Act of 2019. The act will require districts to develop a comprehensive school counseling program and plan. Davis and Vaught attended the ceremony Thursday.
Act 190 is meant to reduce a counselor's administrative duties, such as paperwork, and allow school counselors to spend at least 90 percent of their working hours during student-contact days providing direct and indirect student services.
Davis, who served for nine years on the Russellville School Board, said she knows first-hand the importance of school counselors.
"I appreciate so much the governor's work on this and the support of the school counselors in fighting for what is right in their career field, which is direct contact with their students," Davis said.
"Like the governor said, it's important from an academic standpoint and then it's also important from a mental health standpoint to a school safety standpoint, to be there for those students and help direct them and guide them through some of the most challenging years of life."
Arkansas Education Commissioner Johnny Key said carving out more student time for counselors is important because they're trained to "see things that we don't see."
"They have that wisdom of being able to guide students in making good choices with their academics, with their activities," Key said. "This bill will help create more space for our counselors all over the state of Arkansas to be able to engage directly with those students. We think in the long run this is going to be an extremely positive benefit to our students and in turn it's going to be a benefit to our communities and our entire state."
There is no funding mechanism built into SB199, but North Little Rock School Superintendent Bobby Acklin said the districts will find a way to make it work.
"That's the million-dollar question. How do you fund it?" Acklin said. "But this is law, so we will put our heads together and come up with it. We always do. We may have to hire some clerical staff to do some of the paperwork, but that is worth it because this law puts the service on the kids, where it needs to be."
North Little Rock High School head counselor Gwen Leger said she is excited about the new law and its possibilities.
"I think that if the school districts maintain fidelity and allow us to implement it, then yes, it would be very helpful," Leger said.
A Section on 03/08/2019