PVPA’s school counselors maintain student confidentiality to the maximum extent possible. Information discussed in any counseling session or other meeting is shared only with student permission, except when a safety risk is present.

If any PVPA staff member, including school counselors, believes there is harm or a risk of harm to any student, they must share information in order to ensure student safety. This may include notifying a student’s guardian/parent/emergency contact, school administrators, and/or outside emergency services or child protective services. In all cases, student information is shared only on a need-to-know basis.

During the period of school closure, school counselors may use one or more of the following virtual tools to communicate with students.
PVPA email
Phone calling from PVPA email
Google voice
Google classroom
Google Hangouts Meet (without video)
Google chat (within PVPA email)

Students and families should be aware that it is impossible to guarantee complete confidentiality of any virtual interactions, including email, web conferencing, or text chats, as conversations may be overheard or records may remain in web-based platforms. Students and families should also be aware that any correspondence by email or text chat becomes part of a student’s educational record, and therefore can be released to the guardian or subpoenaed by a court.

School counselors will make all reasonable efforts to maintain confidentiality while using these platforms by using them in private locations, and closing them when not in use. Students and their guardians are asked to do their best to find a private location to use for virtual student counseling sessions and/or family meetings. If a student needs to discuss a sensitive topic, the school counselor will guide the student in setting up a phone call or web conference. As a further safeguard for privacy and confidentiality, web conferences will take place without video.

Students are requested to confirm with the counselor their accurate location before engaging in any virtual meeting (by phone or web conference). Students are asked to use their PVPA email account for any virtual communication with school counselors.

Please note that in a virtual setting, the school counselor is unable to guarantee continued contact with or supervision of a student.

If, during virtual meetings or in the context of other virtual communication, a school counselor believes that a student is experiencing harm or at imminent risk of harm to self or others, the counselor will take the following steps.

1. (If in direct communication with the student) attempt to maintain communication with the student until receiving confirmation that the student is supervised by an adult.
2. Attempt to contact the student’s guardian, parent, or emergency contact and establish immediate supervision and safety of the student.
3. If the guardian or parent poses a risk to the student, the counselor will contact the Department of Children and Families and will not contact the guardian or parent unless instructed to do so by DCF.
4. Make appropriate referrals to community resources.
5. If appropriate, contact Crisis Services to initiate a crisis evaluation and/or place an alert for the student. Please note that counselors are not able to assess a student’s risk to self or others during virtual meetings, and will refer the student to Crisis Services if assessment is needed.
6. If the parent, guardian, or emergency contact cannot be reached, the counselor may contact the police to perform a wellness check. If appropriate, the counselor will inform the police of a possible risk of self-harm or suicide.
7. If the counselor believes there is an imminent emergency, the counselor may call 911.
8. Notify a school administrator that a potential risk to student safety occurred and of the steps taken to ensure student safety.
9. Document the incident as appropriate.