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SB 482

SCHOOLS: Provides for career coaches to assist public middle and high school students and their parents in developing an individualized graduation plan for each student. (8/1/26)

2026 Regular Session Introduced by Josh Carlson and 4 co-sponsors

Louisiana SB 482 adds dedicated career coaches to help middle/high school students create and revise Individual Graduation Plans aligned with high-demand, high-wage careers.

Effective date 5/23/2026.
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Bill Summary · SB 482

Summary of SB 482 (Louisiana, 2026 Regular Session)

Title

SCHOOLS: Provides for career coaches to assist public middle and high school students and their parents in developing an individualized graduation plan for each student. (Effective Aug. 1, 2026)

Purpose and Intent

  • Expand career guidance for public middle and high school students by adding career coaches to assist in the development, review, and implementation of each student’s Individual Graduation Plan (IGP).
  • Ensure students, parents/guardians, and school staff collaboratively plan coursework and postsecondary pathways focused on high-demand, high-wage careers.

Key Provisions and Changes

1) Expanded Counseling Team for IGPs

  • Retains existing framework of career counseling through school counselors.
  • Adds career coaches as a required participant in the development and review of a student’s IGP.
  • Targeted participants for IGP activities include:
    • Student
    • Parent or legal guardian
    • School counselor
    • Career coach

2) Individual Graduation Plans (IGPs)

  • Continues current law requiring an IGP by the end of the eighth grade.
  • The IGP development and annual review remain, with the addition that career coaches participate in creation, review, and revision of the plan.

3) BESE Advisement Policy and Professional Development

  • BESE must continue to develop an advisement policy to equip school counselors with information to:
    • Identify the student’s career goals
    • Develop and revise the student’s IGP
    • Identify regional high-demand, high-wage jobs
    • Identify dual enrollment opportunities
  • The Department of Education (DOE) will provide professional development and guidance to school counselors to support BESE policy.

4) Career Coaching Vendors and Regional Coordination

  • DOE will publish on its website a list of high-quality career coaching vendors from which schools may select.
  • Public school boards may form regional consortia to share the costs of contracting with career coaches.

5) Local Accountability and Planning

  • Each public school board must include a description of its plan to provide career coaching to each student as part of the pupil progression plan used for accountability purposes.

6) Fiscal Transparency

  • DOE must annually publish on its website the list of each public school board that has not spent more than 95% of the career development fund dollars appropriated in the previous fiscal year (in effect, a transparency/oversight measure).

Who Is Affected

  • Public middle and high school students in Louisiana.
  • Parents or legal guardians of these students.
  • School counselors and, crucially, career coaches (as an added, explicit part of the process).
  • Local school boards and the Louisiana Department of Education.
  • BESE (Board of Elementary and Secondary Education) through policy advisement.
  • Regional consortia formed by school boards for career coach contracting.

Procedural and Timeline Aspects

  • Effective Date: August 1, 2026.
  • Legislative amendments modify several sections of R.S. 17 (teacher/counselor duties, IGP processes) to incorporate career coaches.
  • DOE publication duties (list of high-quality vendors; annual spend transparency).
  • BESE policy development and required professional development for counselors to align with the enhanced guidance.

Practical Implications

  • Students will have access to an additional professional focused on career planning, alongside counselors, potentially broadening exposure to high-demand career pathways.
  • School boards may collaborate regionally to reduce costs of hiring career coaches.
  • Enhanced transparency around allocation and expenditure of career development funds.
  • Schools must operationalize career coaching in their pupil progression plans, tying coaching activities to accountability metrics.

If you’d like, I can provide a side-by-side comparison with current law to highlight every substantive change.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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