School counseling services spread more thinly School counseling services spread more thinly (May 28, 2003)

Teachers will have less time to spend with students thanks to budget cuts

by Rachel Metz

Students seeking college advice or just a friendly listening ear may have to wait a little longer this fall, as Palo Alto schools adjust to the impact of an estimated $222,000 in cuts to counseling services.

Students most likely to be affected by the cuts are middle-of-the-road kids who don't tend to need much advising, said Noreen Likens, assistant principal and guidance counselor at Gunn High School.

"Your problem kids, your more needy kids, are going to demand that time anyway," Likens said.

The cuts will increase student-to-counselor ratios at district middle and high schools from 360-to-1 to 400-to-1, but counseling officials said the setbacks shouldn't result in drastic decreases in the services currently provided. While some schools could encounter major changes in their counseling services, others may not feel much of a hit.

"They'll (counselors) need to organize a bit and look at things differently and maybe there are some things they just can't do anymore," said Carol Zepecki, Palo Alto Unified School District director of student services. At Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School, counselor Linda Howard said her current roster of about 265 students will rise to about 400. "I'll have more kids to serve so my services will be spread more thinly," Howard said. At Gunn High School, one counselor is leaving and another counselor's hours will be cutback to three-quarters time, meaning an increase in the student-counselor ratio. The school divides its student population among five counselors, Likens said.

"Obviously nobody's happy. We are not having to say goodbye to anybody because we have one person who is actually going on leave," Likens said. Palo Alto High School, which uses several counselors and a teacher advisor system, will increase the number of students per teacher advisor. Katya Villalobos, Paly assistant principal of guidance and curriculum, expects each teacher advisors will see 73 to 75 students next year, instead of the current 65 to 70. "As of now our biggest thing is definitely the increase will creep up. But in terms of anything else it's up in the air," Villalobos said. Schools are also unsure about what other counseling services, like psychological counseling, could be affected by district cuts and said they won't know until next school year exactly what changes will occur. The common practice of shuffling psychologists around to several different district elementary schools will continue, and elementary schools should remain unaffected by the cuts, Zepecki said. Psychologist Jean Mockler - who works at El Carmelo Elementary School and Jordan Middle School - worried the middle school's system could suffer from the proposed cuts in services and from the scheduled fall opening of Terman Middle School. "Clearly if the same number of people have to service a greater number of students there will be less coverage," Mockler said. But Terman, like Jordan and JLS, will be assigned counselors in accordance with its number of students and the new student-to-counselor ratio, according to Zepecki.

For ongoing counseling needs - requiring more than one or two successive visits - Mockler said students and parents can be referred to appropriate psychological or behavioral health officials in the Palo Alto area.

PAUSD and local counselors assist students needing consistent help by subsidizing three free counseling sessions outside of the school. Zepecki said this program will not be scrapped.

As for what parents can do to help alleviate future cuts, Zepecki suggested a tried-and-true method.

"We have been very, very active in this community in writing to the governor and any other members of the legislature that we can. Parents have been very good about that and we need to continue that," Zepecki said. <"Times">

E-mail Rachel Metz at rmetz@paweekly.com