Cal. Educ. Code § 49600

(a) The governing board of a school district may provide a comprehensive educational counseling program for all pupils enrolled in the school district. It is the intent of the Legislature that a school district that provides educational counseling to its pupils implement a structured and coherent counseling program.

(b) For purposes of this section, “educational counseling” means specialized services provided by a school counselor possessing a valid credential with a specialization in pupil personnel services who is assigned specific times to directly counsel pupils.

(c) It is the intent of the Legislature that school counselors do all of the following: (1) Engage with, advocate for, and provide support for, all pupils with respect to learning and achievement. (2) Plan, implement, and evaluate programs to promote the academic, career, personal, and social development of all pupils, including pupils from low-income families, foster youth, homeless youth, undocumented youth, and pupils at all levels of academic, social, and emotional abilities. (3) Use multiple sources of information to monitor and improve pupil behavior and achievement. (4) Collaborate and coordinate with school and community resources. (5) Promote and maintain a safe learning environment for all pupils by providing restorative justice practices, positive behavior interventions, and support services. (6) Intervene to ameliorate school-related problems, including issues related to chronic absences. (7) Use research-based strategies to reduce stigma, conflict, and pupil-to-pupil mistreatment and bullying. (8) Improve school climate and pupil well-being. (9) Enhance pupils’ social and emotional competence, character, health, civic engagement, cultural literacy, and commitment to lifelong learning and the pursuit of high-quality educational programs. (10) Provide counseling interventions and support services for pupils classified as English learners, eligible for free or reduced-price meals, or foster youth, including enhancing equity and access to the education system and community services. (11) Engage in continued development as a professional school counselor.

(d) Educational counseling shall include academic counseling, in which pupils receive counseling in the following areas: (1) Development and implementation, with parental involvement, of the pupil’s immediate and long-range educational plans. (2) Optimizing progress towards achievement of proficiency standards. (3) Completion of the required curriculum in accordance with the pupil’s needs, abilities, interests, and aptitudes. (4) Academic planning for access and success in higher education programs, including advisement on courses needed for admission to public colleges and universities, standardized admissions tests, and financial aid. (5) Career and vocational counseling, in which pupils are assisted in doing all of the following: (A) Planning for the future, including, but not limited to, identifying personal interests, skills, and abilities, career planning, course selection, and career transition. (B) Becoming aware of personal preferences and interests that influence educational and occupational exploration, career choice, and career success. (C) Developing realistic perceptions of work, the changing work environment, and the effect of work on lifestyle. (D) Understanding the relationship between academic achievement and career success, and the importance of maximizing career options. (E) Understanding the value of participating in career technical education and work-based learning activities and programs, including, but not limited to, service learning, regional occupational centers and programs, partnership programs, job shadowing, and mentoring experiences. (F) Understanding the need to develop essential employable skills and work habits. (G) Understanding the variety of four-year colleges and universities and community college vocational and technical preparation programs, as well as admission criteria and enrollment procedures.

(e) Educational counseling may also include counseling in any of the following: (1) Individualized review of the academic and deportment records of a pupil. (2) Individualized review of the pupil’s career goals, and the available academic and career technical education opportunities and community and workplace experiences available to the pupil that may support the pursuit of those goals. (3) Opportunity for a counselor to meet with each pupil and, if practicable, the parents or legal guardian of the pupil to discuss the academic and deportment records of the pupil, his or her educational options, the coursework and academic progress needed for satisfactory completion of middle or high school, education opportunities at community colleges, eligibility for admission to a four-year institution of postsecondary education, including the University of California and the California State University, and the availability of career technical education. The educational options discussed at the meeting shall include, to the extent these services are available, the college preparatory program and career technical education programs, including regional occupational centers and programs and similar alternatives available to pupils within the school district. (4) Identifying pupils who are at risk of not graduating with the rest of their class or do not have sufficient training to allow them to fully engage in their chosen career. (5) In schools that enroll pupils in grades 10 and 12, developing a list of coursework and experience necessary to assist each pupil in his or her grade who has not satisfied, or is not on track to satisfy, the curricular requirements for admission to the University of California and the California State University, and to successfully transition to postsecondary education or employment. (6) Developing a list of coursework and experience necessary to assist each pupil in middle school to successfully transition to high school and meet all graduation requirements. (7) In schools that enroll pupils in grades 6 to 12, inclusive, developing a list of coursework and experience necessary to assist each pupil to begin to satisfy the curricular requirements for admission to the University of California and the California State University. (8) Providing a copy of the lists developed pursuant to paragraphs (6) and (7) to a pupil and his or her parent or legal guardian, ensuring that the list of coursework and experience is part of the pupil’s cumulative record. (9) Developing a list of coursework and experience for a pupil enrolled in grade 12, including options for continuing his or her education if he or she fails to meet graduation requirements. These options shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following: (A) Enrolling in an adult education program. (B) Enrolling in a community college. (C) Continuing enrollment in the pupil’s current school district. (D) Continuing to receive intensive instruction and services for up to two consecutive academic years after completion of grade 12. (10) Providing a copy of the list of coursework and experiences developed pursuant to paragraph (9) to the pupil and his or her parent or legal guardian, ensuring that the list of coursework and experience is part of the cumulative records of a pupil. (11) Offering and scheduling an individual conference with each pupil in grades 10 and 12 who has not satisfied, or is not on track to satisfy, the curricular requirements for admission to the University of California and the California State University and to successfully transition to postsecondary education or employment, and providing the following information to the pupil and his or her parent or legal guardian: (A) Programs, courses, and career technical education options available to the pupil as needed for satisfactory completion of middle or high school. (B) Cumulative records and transcripts of the pupil. (C) Results of standardized and diagnostic assessments of the pupil. (D) Remediation strategies, high school courses, and alternative education options available to the pupil, including, but not limited to, informing the pupil of the option to receive intensive instruction and services for up to two consecutive academic years after completion of grade 12. (E) Information on postsecondary education and training. (F) The score of the pupil on the English language arts or mathematics portion of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, established pursuant to Article 4 (commencing with Section 60640) of Chapter 5 of Part 33, administered in grade 6, as applicable. (G) Eligibility requirements, including coursework and test requirements, and the progress of the pupil toward satisfaction of those requirements for admission to four-year institutions of postsecondary education, including the University of California and the California State University. (H) The availability of financial aid for postsecondary education. (12) Personal and social counseling, in which pupils receive counseling pertaining to interpersonal relationships for the purpose of promoting the development of their academic abilities, careers and vocations, and personal and social skills.

(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting persons participating in an organized advisory program approved by the governing board of a school district, and supervised by a school district counselor, from advising pupils pursuant to the organized advisory program.