2411 - GUIDANCE AND COUNSELING

The School Board requires that a planned program of guidance and counseling be an integral part of the educational program of the School Corporation. Such a program should:

1. assist students in achieving educational goals;
2. enable students to draw benefit from the offerings of the instructional program of the school;
3. aid students in identifying options and making choices in vocational and academic course areas;
4. assist students in career awareness and planning;
5. help integrate all the student's experiences so that s/he can better relate school activity to life outside the school;
6. help students learn to make their own decisions and solve problems independently.

A program of guidance and/or counseling will be offered to all students and will be limited to the services of a professional staff of fully certificated guidance personnel.

The Superintendent is directed to implement the counseling and guidance program, which carries out these purposes and:

1. involves appropriate staff members at every level;
2. honors the individuality of each student;
3. integrates with the total educational program;
4. coordinates with available resources of the community;
5. cooperates with parents and recognizes their concern and ideas for the development of their children.

A student's guidance counselor, in consultation with the student and his/her parent, will review the student's career plan annually to determine if the student is progressing toward fulfillment of the plan. If the student is not progressing toward fulfillment of the graduation plan, the school counselor shall provide counseling services to advise the student of credit recovery options and services to help make progress toward graduation. If the student is not progressing toward fulfillment of the graduation plan due to failing to meet a postsecondary (college or career) readiness competency, the school counselor shall meet with the teacher assigned to the student for remediation of the particular competency area, the parents, and the student to discuss available remediation and to plan to meet graduation requirements.

Each year, the Corporation shall use the model notice prepared by the Commission for Higher Education to notify each student and parent who is in grade 12 of 1) the existence, availability of, and the State deadline to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA); 2) a description of the process for and benefits of completing a FAFSA; 3) a statement regarding the most recent labor market trends, including the number and percentage of State minimum wage jobs that do not require education beyond high school and require additional education or training after obtaining a high school diploma; 4) a statement that Indiana offers guaranteed financial aid options for high school graduates, regardless of family income, including information on Indiana's high value workforce ready credit-bearing grants, such as Indiana's Next Level Jobs Workforce Ready Grant; 5) a statement that eligibility for many merit based and needs based scholarships, grants and other financial aid opportunities require the FAFSA to be completed by a certain date; and 6) a statement that each student is required to complete and submit the FAFSA in the student's senior year unless the parent or guardian (or emancipated minor) submits a signed waiver that the student understands what the FAFSA is and declines to complete it or the high school principal or school counselor waives the requirement due to being unable to reach the parents or guardians by April 15 after two (2) reasonable attempts to contact the parents; and 7) a website link to the online FAFSA affirmation form.

Revised 12/20/06

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