Robertsdale, Ala. — (OBA) — Baldwin County Public Schools Superintendent Eddie Tyler has notified parents about an important change to counseling consent rules. He said he usually shares policy updates in his back‑to‑school email each August, but this situation is different. The district began the year collecting several new opt‑in forms from families. Now state guidance has led the school board to revise its policy.

Tyler said earlier this school year, “Another important change this year relates to counseling services. In accordance with new Alabama law, parents or guardians must now provide written consent for their child to participate in school counseling programs.” A later memo from the Alabama State Department of Education and State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey prompted the board to update its counseling policy to match the new direction.

Below are the details or the superintendent’s letter to parents. 

Parents,

I try to keep you updated with important board policies as they arise. They typically do not occur during the school year, and often, I update you on any policy changes in my back-to-school email in August. This one however, is a little different, and I wanted to give you the latest.

In August, my email included this:

“Another important change this year relates to counseling services. In accordance with new Alabama law, parents or guardians must now provide written consent for their child to participate in school counseling programs. More details will be available from your school, but I wanted to make sure this important change is on your radar.”

We started collecting Opt-In Parent Consent forms (you probably noticed more than usual) when school started. Fast forward a couple of months and we received clarification from the Alabama State Department of Education and State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey on what was expected of our staff and our system. Due to this memo, the board voted to revise our policy to make it more in line with what was recommended by the ALSDE.

Here is what the clarification means for us moving forward:

Key points

• The age of consent for mental health services is now 16.
• For students under 16, written parent consent is required only when we provide ongoing counseling such as recurring individual sessions or multi-session small groups.
• Prevention education lessons, including state-required content such as Erin’s Law (which teaches age-appropriate skills to recognize unsafe situations, protect themselves and seek help from trusted adults), the Jamari Terrell Williams Act (which is designed to prevent bullying, harassment and cyberbullying), the Jason Flatt Act (which requires schools to provide suicide awareness and prevention training to help keep students safe) and the Drug Education Prevention Act (which focuses on preventing drug misuse through education and awareness) do not require opt-in and should be taught to all students.
• Routine school counseling activities like instruction, advisement and occasional interventions are not subject to opt-in requirements as these are regular duties of school counselors and other educators.

We will now standardize consent only for students receiving ongoing counseling or mental health services while continuing to provide instruction and routine support to all students. Updated opt-in forms should only be sent to families when a student is being recommended for ongoing services such as AltaPointe, The Bridge, small-group counseling or recurring check-ins.

If you have any questions regarding these changes, please reach out to your individual school and/or counselor and they will be able to provide more information.

We appreciate all that our counselors do and have done to remain compliant with Alabama law and the ever-changing landscape of public education. We have included a copy of the board policy as well as the memo from State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey.

As always, thank you for your time and understanding. Let’s finish this semester strong!

Eddie Tyler

Superintendent

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