CENTRAL TEXAS — The nation’s school counselor crisis hits Central Texas hard.
We told you how focusing on the hearts and minds of troubled students could be the best way to prevent another school shooting.
But 82 percent of individual schools we checked do not meet national recommendations of student-to-counselor ratios. A third of 21 Central Texas districts do not have any schools meeting national recommendations.
The American School Counselor Association recommends no more than 250 students for each counselor.
“School counselors are often assigned an unrealistic percentage of what we call fair shared duties on a campus,” said Jan Friese, executive director of the Texas Counseling Association.
Counselors, like DeAnne Hart, share school responsibilities with other teachers and staff
“We start the day off with an assigned duty location,” said DeAnne Hart, Ridgeview Middle School counselor in Round Rock.
She usually watches a bus line.
“It’s a great way to see the student, see how they are coming into the building,” said Hart.
But Friese said other duties can harm students.
“I think students can oftentimes see a school counselor on their campus but in that urgent crisis that they're having they may not be able to access that school counselor because the school counselor may be administering a test or may be working on the master schedule for every student in a high school,” said Friese.
The KVUE Defenders asked Hart if she felt stretched too thin.
“At times, sure. I do try to see the positives and everything and as long as I’m with students I can see the benefit of it,” she said.
Despite national recommendations, Texas has no law mandating a certain student-to-counselor ratio.
Seven districts in Central Texas have no campuses meeting national recommendation of student-to-counselor ratio
“It means that the administrators on those campuses do not understand the benefit of having a school counselor or that their budgets are so constrained,” said Friese.
Only two districts, Lago Vista Independent School District and Eanes Independent School District, meet the recommendation.
Austin Independent School District has 17 of its 121 schools on par (14 percent).
Round Rock Independent School District, where Hart counsels the entire 8th grade, has only 17 percent of its campuses meeting the 250-to-one ratio.
“I currently have 467 students,” said Hart.
Friese said it would benefit the school economically to hire more counselors.
“When campuses fully implement comprehensive school counseling programs there is significant research that indicates you have fewer disciplinary referrals. The schools are calmer and students and faculty report feeling safer,” said Friese.
Friese said the lack of counselors also burdens teachers.
“The character education -- anti-bullying, self-control, resilience -- those are not part of TEKS, the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, on which teachers are evaluated for delivering knowledge to students,” said Friese.
In Texas, all counselors hold master’s degrees, spend at least two years teaching inside a classroom and must pass a state exam.
“A teacher doesn't have the mental health training that a school counselor has,” said Friese.
The counselor problem reaches beyond the classroom. It impacts the whole community
According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, 200 of the 254 counties in Texas are considered in a mental health professional shortage area.
“In those rural communities many times the school counselor is the only mental health available to anyone in the community,” said Friese.
Friese will push for change in the 2019 legislative session. She’s working on legislation to require a school counselor be allowed to spend a minimum of 80 percent of their work week delivering “comprehensive school counseling programs” for students.
If you would like to see student-to-counselor data on individual schools, click on the links below.
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