Presenting to the school board can be a bit intimidating, but for school counselors, it is also an essential part of advocacy for your program. As a former superintendent who has seen literally hundreds of staff presentations to the board over my career, I have created a “Tips for Presenting to School Boards” document to help prepare you for your time in front of the board of trustees and your district leadership.

For me, the most important takeaway is to realize your objective is not simply to present and then sit down but to get your school board engaged in a dialogue following your presentation. If there are no questions after your presentation, you basically earned a walk to first base. But, if you can get the board members talking amongst themselves, asking thoughtful questions, and wanting you to come back and present again in the future, you have hit a home run!

The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) has recently introduced “draft guidance” on the new Statewide Multi-Payer Fee Schedule For School Linked Services. This new fee schedule will exist alongside the cumbersome Local Education Agency Medi-Cal Billing Option Program (known as LEA BOP) and streamline the processes while removing the complexities and constraints associated with the LEA BOP. The new fee schedule will benefit schools in many ways, such as increasing student access to behavioral health services, providing a flat fee-for-services method that provides 100% reimbursement, and expanding the program to both Medi-Cal enrolled and commercially insured students. Most importantly, the new fee schedule will provide a permanent funding source to sustain behavioral health services for students.

Current California budget deficits will likely impact most school districts' discretionary spending in 2024-25. However, it's also important to note that there are still several sources of one-time funding that could potentially support your school counseling program, enhance professional development, and bolster student services. 

We’ve created this California Funding for School Counseling document to provide a comprehensive list of these one-time grants, their respective deadlines, and the resource codes necessary to inquire about the remaining funds in your district. We recommend requesting a budget report for each of these resource codes from your business department so you can gain a clearer understanding of how your district is utilizing these funds and what is still available. With this knowledge, you'll be better equipped to advocate for these funds to be allocated to support your school counseling program.