1975-11-22-SC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

-6- Lack of planned counselor coverage during the summer. This item had formerly been in the budget, and should be placed back. At the last minute for the past two years, permission was granted to hire some counselor help one or several weeks ( before school opened because of the large number of new students who move to town in late August, or who register at the last minute. About one hundred such stu- dents appear during the last two weeks of vacation. They need to be registered, oriented, and to have a program planned (often with lengthy discussions about their past education with the student, parent and staff at his previous school. Some students need program adjustments because of credited summer experiences. The Director of Guidance cannot handle the task alone. He needs to plan on the help of two counselors for two weeks each. Lack of clear program definition. This process, described earlier (under Major Goals) can accomplish the purpose of the significant publics agreeing upon a set of reasonable sub-goals that appear attainable with the given resources. Assuming the process and outcomes are measurable, then evaluations can verify process completion and the degree of outcome success. Staff plans to begin work on these now. It is likely that a workshop this summer would be needed to complete it by September, 1976. Insufficient counseling staff. It is becoming increasingly imperative that the present student-counselor ratio be reviewed. With the advent of Public Law 766 and its increasing time demand on counselors, such as chairing staffings and cores, participating in partial and full cores, making reports to specialists and consultations, a realistic figure of 200:1, in contrast to the present 284:1 would be more realistic. While an increase of group procedures will allow coun- selors to contact greater numbers of students, this group contact will tend to be mostly in the area of information dissemination. It would be unfair to the average student to reduce the opportunity to have-one to one counseling contact with coun- selors. There are many concerns associated with making appropriate decisions con- - cerning post-high school plans, and with personal-social problems which can only - be dealt with individually. Uncertain high school reorganization plan. High school reorganization is being developed now. Any reorganization of guidance, including decisions on cen- tralization, is interdependent upon the total high school reorganization. It is suggested that final recommendations in this area be part of the total school re- organization. Physical facilities changes would be necessary to implement a centralization or semi-centralization plan. Career Center needs better staffing. Expand the present Career Center (both physically and staff-wise) so that it will better serve the needs of the high school community. The present Career Center adequately houses information on post-secondary educational institutions, career opportunities, armed services opportunities, and college entrance testing programs. However, the Career Center can better serve students, teachers, and parents by implementing a more active outreach program in addition to the present work being done with EWOW, Occupations Classes, and college information sessions. A stronger outreach program would result in more students having more infor- mation and would enhancethe decision-making processes viz-a-viz post-secondary . plans.