(1) To qualify for funding described in Section R277-462-4 an LEA shall have at least one school counselor for every 350 students. (2) For purposes of counting toward fulfillment of this ratio, a school counselor shall be:

• (a) a full-time equivalent within an LEA; and
• (b) Board certified and licensed. (3) An LEA may be considered compliant with subsection (1) if less than .25 school counselors would be needed for the LEA to meet the required ratio. (4) No later than October 1 of each year an LEA shall certify to the Superintendent the school counselor to student ratio. (5) No later than June 1 from submitting the LEA's certified ratio, an LEA that does not meet the required ratio in subsection (1) shall submit to the Board a plan outlining a reasonable timeline and method for achieving compliance. (6) If an LEA fails to fulfill the plan described in subsection (5), the LEA may be placed on a corrective action plan described in R277-114. (7) If an LEA fails to complete the corrective action plan described in subsection (6), the LEA shall be referred to the Board for further corrective action including loss of distributed funds.

(9) A local school board may authorize guidance and counseling services for children and their parents before, during, or following enrollment of the children in schools.