Honorable Larry Taylor, Chair, Senate Committee on Education
FROM:
Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
SB165 by Lucio (Relating to the use of public school counselors' work time.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
The bill would limit the amount of time a school counselor spends on duties not related to counseling or guidance to not more than 10 percent of total work time. Employment contracts could not authorize a school district superintendent or school principal to require a school counselor to perform duties not primarily related to counseling.
The bill would require a school district selected for an on-site investigation to perform an assessment of the district's compliance with its policy related to school counselors' duties and submit the assessment to investigators on or before the date specified by the commissioner. As part of the on-site investigation, investigators would be required to interview a certain percentage of school counselors to assess the district's compliance with policy related to counselors' duties
The Commissioner of Education would have the authority to adopt rules to implement the provisions of the bill.
Based on the analysis of the Texas Education Agency, duties and responsibilities associated with implementing the provisions of the bill could be accomplished by utilizing existing resources.
Local Government Impact
School districts might have to hire additional staff to cover duties that school counselors would no longer be allowed to perform.