The following counselors are licensed under the Mental Health Professions Practice Act.

Guidance Staff

Guidance Services

Guidance services are provided to help make the student’s high school career more enjoyable and more profitable. A brief description of some of the services and information available from the guidance office follows:

• Counseling – Counselors are provided to assist students in planning their high school coursework. They are there to discuss anything students wish to talk about. Conversations are kept confidential.
• Self Understanding – The counselors will help students study their own personal qualifications with regard to post high school planning.
• Community Resources – Should students need some assistance not provided by our school, counselors can help contact other persons in local, state or federal agencies.
• Service – Students are welcome in the guidance office at any time. The counselors will try to help in any way they can. If students have trouble finding time to meet with a counselor, they can arrange an appointment through the guidance secretary.
• Counselors are available at any time for emergencies and crisis counseling. Students should arrange an appointment through the guidance secretary for all other issues.

Schedule changes will be made, if possible, for computer errors, courses repeated by mistake, or graduation requirements for seniors. Other schedule changes can be made for special circumstances and a bona fide educational need with the recommendation of the guidance personnel. Forethought and planning eliminates the need to drop or add a course after registration and the start of the semester. Students who drop or are withdrawn for disciplinary reasons from the course after the first ten days will receive an “F”. This grade will become part of the student’s grade point average. If a student must drop a course due to hardship or exceptional circumstances, he/she must petition through the guidance office for a waiver of the “F” grade. Incompletes will turn into “F’s” when two weeks past the grading period have lapsed.

Counseling Disclosure Statement: the school counselors, and specifically the professionals listed below, offer limited health services to our students. These services are educationally focused and follow a brief problem-focused approach. Services may include individual counseling, group counseling, educational, emotional, and/or vocational testing and assessment, case management, and crisis intervention. Payment is not expected for these services, as they are part of our school district’s comprehensive education program.

Parents and their children have a right to confidentiality. In judicial or administrative proceedings, parents and students have the right to refuse to disclose and may prevent the disclosure of confidential information, including information contained in administrative records communicated to a person licensed or certified under the Wyoming Mental Health Professions Practice Act, for the purpose of diagnosis, evaluation or treatment of any mental or emotional condition or disorder. A person licensed or certified to practice under this act shall not disclose any information communicated as described above, in the absence of an expressed waiver of the privilege, except in the following circumstances:

1. Where abuse or harmful neglect of children, the elderly or disabled or incompetent individuals is known or reasonably suspected;
2. Where the validity of a will of a former client is contested;
3. Where such information is necessary to defend against a malpractice action brought by the client;
4. Where an immediate threat of physical violence against a readily identifiable victim is disclosed to the person licensed or otherwise authorized to practice under this act;
5. In the context of civil commitment proceedings, where an immediate threat of self-inflicted harm is disclosed to the person licensed or certified to practice under this act;
6. Where the client alleges mental or emotional damages in civil litigation or otherwise places his mental or emotional damages in civil litigation or otherwise places his mental or emotional state in issue in any judicial or administrative proceeding concerning child custody or visitation;
7. Where the client is examined pursuant to court order; or
8. In the context of investigation and hearing brought by the client and conducted by the board, where violations of this act are at issue. The board shall inspect information that is deemed to be of a sensitive nature and the board shall determine whether or not the information shall become part of the record and subject to public disclosure.

Sheridan School District 2 School Board believes it is appropriate to afford non-custodial parents (parents who do not have custody, but have rights to educational information) the opportunity to be informed and to participate in the education of their children (Board Policy JOB).

Upon request, non-custodial parents shall be entitled to exercise all parental rights to the extent that such rights are not restricted by a legally binding instrument or court order. Non-custodial parents may have their names, addresses, and phone numbers listed on school records. In addition, they may, in writing, request that school calendars, grade reports, and progress reports be sent to them.

Custodial parents wanting to restrict access to non-custodial parents must have on file at the school a copy of the legal document that restricts the rights of non-custodial parents.

The SHS Guidance staff strive to maintain the highest quality of service. Counseling relationships are professional in nature. Our counselors follow ethical guidelines set by the various professional organizations such as the American Counseling Association and the National Association of School Psychologists. Students have the right to ask questions about their counselor’s credentials and approach. Also, students may accept or reject any suggested counseling intervention. Students may ask to have a different counselor.