Parental Rights

You as a parent or guardian have the fundamental right to make decisions regarding the upbringing and control of your child. Our goal as a school is to be a supportive partner in that effort, providing effective academic instruction to maximize student learning. In service of that goal, we also work to support the general well-being of our students so they can remain academically focused. As you might expect, teachers and other employees will periodically inquire about a child’s well-being, (e.g., asking how a student is feeling). In some cases, though, more formalized efforts may be appropriate, and if that is the case, our intent is to work in ways that are consistent with your goals as the parent.

Our school offers a variety of health-related and health care services to each student. 

 

Examples of Routine Services That May Be Provided:

Physical Health Services (by school nurses):

Visit the Godley ISD Health Services webpage for detailed information.

• Medication Administration 
• Special procedures upon written parent request and with a physician’s order
• State-mandated screenings such as vision, hearing, spinal, and Texas Risk Assessment for Type 2 Diabetes in Children 
• Management of chronic health conditions including diabetes, seizures, and allergies
• Communicable disease or condition symptom evaluation, exclusion, and readmission 
• First aid for injuries, illness, and care to protect the immediate health and safety of the student
• Coordination of health services
• Immunization compliance 
• Vision, Hearing Screenings

Mental Health Services (by school counselors, social workers and/or mental health staff):

Under state law, a child may consent to counseling for themselves as it relates to suicide prevention; chemical addiction or dependency; or sexual, physical or emotional abuse. 

Routine Counseling Services

State law requires school counselors to provide the following services as part of a Comprehensive School Counseling Program:

• A guidance curriculum to help students develop their full educational potential, including the student's interests and career objectives.
• A responsive services component to intervene on behalf of any student whose immediate personal concerns or problems put the student's continued educational, career, personal, or social development at risk.
• An individual planning system to guide a student as the student plans, monitors, and manages the student's own educational, career, personal, and social development.
• System support to support the efforts of teachers, staff, parents, and other members of the community in promoting the educational, career, personal, and social development of students.

School counselors routinely provide the following services:

• Advise students and their parents regarding the importance of postsecondary education, coursework designed to prepare students for postsecondary education, and financial aid availability and requirements;
• Early mental health prevention and intervention;
• Building skills related to managing emotions, establishing and maintaining positive relationships, and responsible decision-making;
• Substance abuse prevention and intervention;
• Suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention;
• Grief-informed and trauma-informed practices;
• Positive school climates, meaning the quality and character of school life, including interpersonal relationships, teaching and learning practices, and organizational structures, as experienced by students enrolled in the District, parents of those students, and personnel employed by the District;
• Positive behavior interventions and supports;
• Positive youth development; and
• Safe, supportive, and positive school climate.
• Short-term individual counseling or check-ins
• Social-emotional skill-building or group counseling
• Support during emotional distress or crisis
• Behavioral observations, problem-solving and conflict resolution
• Referral to external providers, if needed (requires parent/guardian consent)

School Counselors, Social Workers and the District Crisis Team Do Not Provide the Following Services:

• Formal medical or psychological/psychiatric assessments or diagnosis
• Therapeutic psychological or psychiatric treatment
• Prescription medication administration/supervision

This notice is meant to inform you of all available services, not necessarily to indicate all these services will be provided to your child. You have the right to withhold consent or decline the provision of any of these services to your child by submitting a written statement to your child’s campus nurse for health related services or to your child’s counselor for counseling/mental health related services.

If you have consented to the provision of health care services, medication, or a medical procedure considered by the district to be routine care and that will be provided by a person authorized by the district to provide physical or mental health related services, that consent will be considered effective until the end of the school year, unless you object. Consent may be revoked or reinstated at any time with written notice signed by the parent/guardian.

All District employees:

• Shall report alleged abuse or neglect of a student as required by law; and
• May verbally inquire about a student’s daily well-being without parental consent.

District employees and contractors will NOT provide assistance with social transitioning, including providing any information about social transitioning or providing guidelines intended to assist a person with social transitioning. 

School personnel are always expected to encourage your child to discuss any issues related to their well-being with you. School personnel can also facilitate a conversation between you and your child about any issues related to their well-being. Furthermore, employees are expected to keep parents informed related to observations of their child’s mental, emotional, or physical health. You have the right to access your child’s education and health records at any time. 

Sometimes in addition to general inquiries into a student’s well-being, school personnel might determine that a student needs some additional observation – called monitoring – and perhaps specific services in relation to the student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being. Monitoring in this context means planned and recurring observations of a student in one or more areas of mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being. A service in this context is the planned, routine, and standard use of a method or technique that is designed to affect the behavior, attitude, emotions, or physical health of a student beyond what is taught in a course of instruction. These would not include in-the-moment or unplanned interactions or techniques used to deescalate isolated behavioral incidents. 

Any proposed change in services provided to a student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being will be shared with you before the change takes place, except in emergencies. You will have the right to withhold or decline consent for the service. 

The district will attempt to notify you prior to initiating any proposed change in monitoring related to a student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being. If prior notification is not possible, you will be notified within two (2) school days. 

With certain legally required activities, such as behavioral threat assessments, district personnel must provide parental notification, but the law does not expressly allow a parent to opt-out of such activity.

A parent/guardian may NOT opt out of the following:

• School district emergency responses;
• Law enforcement or Department of Family and Protective Services activities;
• Behavioral threat assessment required by law; or
• Other rights or duties required by law, including the Texas Family Code.