The district added 7.8 fulltime counselors to the secondary schools, a move that puts it a few steps closer to fulfilling the goals set by the Excellence Committee, reported Superintendent John Casey during Tuesday night’s school board meeting, the first of the 2006-2007 school year. The additions were made after the state allocated additional funds for counseling services in the June budget. Additional one-time funds that could go toward fulfilling other Excellence Committee priorities were also made available in the state budget. In light of the additional funds, the district staff recommended, and the trustees agreed, to “push the pause button” on the parcel tax feasibility study.
“All of a sudden we’re feeling very good about counseling services,” Casey said.
The state budget allocated an additional $80 per student–totaling $576,000 for the district–to provide additional counseling services in grades 7-12. The district used the funds to add two new counselors to each comprehensive high school, increasing the counseling staff from four to six and bringing the student-counselor ratio to 400 to 1. The Excellence Committee, a 55-member committee that earlier this year presented the board with a list of 22 priority items for improving the schools, recommended a counselor-student ratio of 350 to 1 at the comprehensive high schools, something the district could achieve now by adding one additional counselor at each high school, according to the staff report.
Each middle school also received one additional counselor, increasing the counseling staff from two to three at each school and making the student-counselor ratio 400 to 1, meeting the Excellence Committee recommendation. A counselor was also added to cover Horizon and Village high schools and independent study students. This brings the student-counselor ratio to 200 to 1, also the recommended ratio by the Excellence Committee.
With the additional counselors, all students will have the chance to meet with their counselor and discuss their future plans at least once this year, something that was unrealistic before. Starting in seventh grade, students will be able to plan their high school track–something that is now necessary given college admission requirements that continue to grow more demanding. Currently, freshmen students meet with counselors to develop their individual plans, but the trustees had said they’d like to see the process start earlier.
However, the state funding does not provide for additional elementary school counselors, which is recommended by the Excellence Committee.
Additional, one-time funds were also allocated to the schools and the district is assembling a committee to decide how those funds should be directed, Casey added. The one-time funds can go toward art, music or physical education supplies and on-going support for music and art. There is also a “discretionary” block grant which must be used for closing the achievement gap and staff development.
Wanting to have time to manage the new state funds and watch how the state budget pans out in the upcoming year, Casey recommended the district hold off on the parcel tax feasibility study, which the trustees approved in the spring. The study would have measured how receptive the community is to passing a parcel tax during the March 2007 elections that would generate funds for items on the Excellence Committee report. The trustees agreed holding off on the study, saying there are misconceptions in the community about the study and the parcel tax in general.
“I would like to pound the pause button on this because, for whatever reason, the feedback I’m getting from the community is a perception that we’re going for the parcel tax, but this was just a study to see if it was feasible,” said Trustee Pat Kernan. “I’m not sure how they got that, but I think we need to go back to it and revisit.”
Other trustees said they had also heard a negative reaction to the parcel tax in the community and would like to take time to better educate the community about it.
“I’m okay with pushing the pause button, but I don’t want to loose the idea,” said Trustee Kris Weaver. “There is more stuff on this paper then we can fund, and no one is going to dispute that.”
