Sylacauga City Schools

Each school provides Guidance & Counseling services. School counselors are an important part of the educational leadership team and provide valuable assistance to students regardless of whether they work in one of our elementary schools, our junior high, or our high school. Although the work of the counselor may vary by his or her school and grade assignments, the following are typical services.

Classroom Guidance. Counselors spend time in the classroom, providing lessons regarding student relationships, mental health topics, and guidance on being successful as a student. 

Counseling. The counselor works with students individually and in small groups. Small group counseling sessions  may assist students in learning how to cope with issues such as conflict resolution, social skills, anger management or loss. Students, staff members or parents may initiate a referral to see the counselor. In many cases, working with the school counselor will not be a substitute for outside mental health care. When that is the case, the counselor can often work in conjunction with community professionals.

Conversations with a counselor are typically confidential with the exception of situations in which the student has authorized the counselor to speak to someone else. In addition, there are a number of special situations which limit confidentiality, including:

• Threat of harm to oneself
• Threat of harm to another
• Any report of abuse or neglect or suspected abuse or neglect
• Reports or indications of behavior which could reasonably put the individual at risk to harm self or others.
• Court orders which compel sending records or appearing in court.

Coordination. Our counselors are frequently involved in the coordination and leadership of other activities within the school. These may include the administration of standardized testing, coordination of student support teams, and working with students on course selection and scheduling.

Consultation. The counselor communicates regularly with parents/guardians to address any concerns they may have regarding their child’s education. The counselor also consults with administrators, teachers, and staff members to ensure a positive educational experience for all students.

The purpose of the ESL program is to enable students who have limited skills in the English language to become competent in the listening, speaking, reading and writing of English. The goals of the program are as follows:

• To increase the English language proficiency to the degree necessary to allow independent functioning in the regular school program.
• To provide the ELL student the opportunity to reach his or her full potential.

All parents of newly enrolled students and new kindergarten students are given the Home Language Survey at registration in the school. This survey identifies any languages other than English that are

• First learned or acquired by the student
• Spoken most often by the student
• Spoken most often in the home of the student

The Home Language Survey is used as an identification tool for potential ELL students and is a part of the enrollment process. The following is the step by step procedure of the identification of possible ELL students:

• During the enrollment process the parent completes the Home Language Survey. 
• All students who indicate a language other than English on the Home Language Survey are referred to the school ESL Coordinator.
• Completed surveys are filed in each student’s cumulative folder.
• Identified students begin testing and placement procedures within 10 school days.

Sylacauga City Schools assess the effectiveness of instructional support through:

• WIDA's ACCESS for ELL's assessment one time annually.
• ongoing formative assessments in the classrooms
• formative assessments of teacher practice related to ELL instruction. 

Sylacauga City Schools recognizes the importance of instructing LEP/ELL students using a best practice approach which stresses the language of each core subject. The language of English Language Arts (LoELA), language of Mathematics (LoMA), language of Science (LoSci), and language of Social Science (LoSS) are important skill sets for any LEP/ELL student to acquire in order to achieve academic success. Sylacauga City schools attempts to produce high academic achievement in our LEP/ELL student population while being sensitive to cultural diversity. We realize the importance placed on the family and/or collective group in our LEP/ELL student's lives and make this a central part of our instructional practice.

McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act

The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act defines a homeless individual as one who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. If a family lives in any of the following situations, then pre-school-aged and school-aged children and youth in that family have certain rights and protections under this act.

• In a shelter, motel, vehicle, or campground
• On the street
• In an abandoned building, trailer, or other inadequate accommodations, or
• Doubled up with friends or relatives because you cannot find or afford housing.

If a parent or guardian of a preschool-or school-aged child or children believes any of the above applies to his or her family, he or she should contact the district’s liaison for homeless education: Bobby Hall (256) 245-5256

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 states:

“No otherwise qualified individual with a handicap in the United States shall, solely by reason of her or his handicap, be excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal assistance.”

Purpose
The purpose of Section 504 is to “level the playing field” to eliminate impediments to full participation by persons with disabilities. In legal terms, the statue was intended to prevent intentional or unintentional discrimination against persons with disabilities, persons who are believed to have disabilities, and persons with a record or history of disabilities. In addition, it provides for protection from discrimination for family members of persons with disabilities.

Eligibility

To fall under the protection of Section 504, a person must have a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities; have a record of such an impairment; or be regarded as having such an impairment.

It is important to remember the three conditions that lead to eligibility for protection under Section 504.

1. The presence of a physical or mental impairment
2. which substantially limits
3. one or more major life activities.

It should be noted that none of these three components has been defined in the law. Also, the 2008 ADA Amendments call for broader interpretation of these, favoring eligibility.

For more information, please contact the guidance counselor assigned to your child or the District Coordinator for Section 504: Jennifer Rosato (256) 249-5256

Immunization Requirements

Please be informed of current Alabama law regarding school immunizations:

• Law requires that students must present a current blue Alabama Certificate of Immunization prior to enrolling in school. 
• Prior to entering school, students should have 2 doses of measles-containing vaccine and 1 dose of Varicella vaccine (unless the student has had documentation of Varicella disease) in addition to the other vaccines listed on the immunization schedule.
• Prior to entering 6th grade students must have a Tdap vaccine for tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough).

Please refer to the law or consult with your child’s physician or local health department with any questions.

The Jessica Elkins Act (SB0075, Act #2014-274) requires local school systems to provide meningococcal disease and vaccine information to parents of sixth through twelfth-grade students. Download the ADPH Meningococcal Flyer for Schools. 

Please promptly bring your child’s current original blue form to the school, if you have not done so.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter. Should you need assistance in this matter, please contact your school office.

Medication Policy

There are several requirements that parents need to meet in the event that a child needs to take medication during the school day. Any use of required medications must be accompanied by written documentation from the parent/guardian and kept in accordance with the local school's medication plan. The parents/guardian or the emergency contact designee must bring the child's medication to school along with a Permission to Administer Medication form completed by the parent/guardian. This includes over-the-counter medications as well as prescription medications. If the medication is a prescription medication, it must be accompanied by a physician's signature.

 Medications must be registered with the school nurse. Medications should be in the original container and be properly labeled with student's name, date of prescription, name of medication, dosage strength, time interval, method of administration and date of drug expiration, when appropriate.

 Self-administration of medication may be permitted when it is necessary for the health and well-being of the student. Only asthma medication and epi-pens (for acute allergic reactions) are allowed for self-administration. A parent/guardian and physician authorization for self-administration, including the physician's instructions for self-administration, must be provided to the school.

 See local handbook for administrative procedures for all types of medication. Policy and procedure violations will be considered a Class II or Class III offense. Any medication that is not picked up at the end of the school year will be destroyed by the school nurse.

Student Code of Conduct

• Procedure Regarding Discrimination
• Grievance Regarding Discrimination
• Student Harassment Reporting Form
• Harassment Policy

Suicide Protocol