This guide provides school counselors, administrators, and other stakeholders with guidelines for implementation and accountability for school counseling programs.

9.1. The WVBE has the responsibility to establish high quality Standard pertaining to all education programs. The WVSSS outline the attitudes, knowledge, skills, and behaviors essential to support all students in achieving everyday school success and in being college and career ready. The principal and school staff must utilize an intentional process to engage all school staff and ensure the WVSSS are integrated within each programmatic level through the use of the developmentally appropriate methods. Policy 2520.19 includes the WVSSS in three programmatic levels: Early Learning Programming, Middle Level Programming, and Adolescent Level Programming, to assist with developmentally appropriate implementation within each programmatic level. 9.2. The WVSSS are foundational Standard for all students and shall be collaboratively delivered, using a coordinated approach, in both the PreK-12 comprehensive school counseling program and the teacher-led student advisory system in all West Virginia middle and high schools, as per Policy 2510. 9.3. The WVSSS have been developed with the goal of preparing students for school success and a wide range of high-quality post-secondary opportunities. Specifically, college- and career-readiness refers to the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to be successful in higher education and/or training that lead to gainful employment. The WVSSS establish a set of knowledge and skills that all individuals need to transition into higher education or into the workplace, as both realms share many expectations. All students, throughout their educational experience, should develop emotional and social competence and a full understanding of the career opportunities available, the education necessary to be successful in their chosen pathway, and a plan to achieve their goals.

(a) This section, section seven [§18B-1B-7], article one-b, chapter eighteen-b of this code and section one, article six, chapter twenty-seven of this code shall be known as “Jamie’s Law”.

(b) On or before September 1, 2015 and each year thereafter, a public middle and high school administrator shall disseminate and provide opportunities to discuss suicide prevention awareness information to all middle and high school students. The information may be obtained from the Bureau for Behavioral Health and Health Facilities or from a commercially developed suicide prevention training program approved by the State Board of Education in consultation with the bureau to assure the accuracy and appropriateness of the information.

(a) The Bureau for Behavioral Health and Health Facilities shall, on or before August 1, 2015, post on its website suicide prevention awareness information, to include recognizing the warning signs of a suicide crisis. The website shall include information related to suicide prevention training opportunities offered by the bureau or an agency recognized by the bureau as a training provider. (b) The bureau may assist the public middle and high school administrators in providing suicide prevention information to students in the public middle and high schools. (c) The bureau shall annually review, for adequacy and completeness, the materials or programs posted on the websites of the institutions of higher education as required by section seven, article one-b, chapter eighteen-b of this code.