2010-11-13 LPS - Student Services Staffing & Financial Assessment

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37 5. Counseling Services Counseling services are provided by three types of providers in the district; psychologists, social workers and guidance counselors. The psychologists are trained as counselors but are primarily used for IEP testing. Since they are building based some provide some informal counseling. The social workers are assigned primarily to the secondary schools and provide the bulk of formal counseling services. Guidance counselors fill many roles including providing formal and informal counseling. They provide the bulk of counseling at the elementary level. ë¿òÝ¿»´±¿¼ Since most counseling is of short duration it is impossible to fully reflect the true caseloads of the counseling staff. The psychologists do not have a formal counseling caseload except for students in district-wide programs for emotional/behavior needs. The social workers and guidance counselors do have a formal caseload, which includes both students with and without an IEP. Some social workers provide the majority of their services to students on IEPs, while others split roughly 50% general education, 50% special education. ë¾òÎ±´»¿²¼Î»°±²·¾·´·¬·» The very small caseloads for guidance counselors and social workers indicates that much of their work is on an as needed, informal basis. Each building sets its own priorities. This is not undesirable, but it does make resource allocation decisions difficult. The counselors expressed much concern that they receive inconsistent and at times contradictory directions from building and special education administrators concerning what is the desired split between general education and special education students. For the most part, the social workers and counselors are left to schedule themselves and work closely with building based staff to identify students in need. This issue is compounded by the organizational structure. The district does not have K-12 director of guidance. The counseling staff, both social workers and guidance counselors, expressed feeling that they were not respected as professionals, not fully welcomed into PLCs or the IEP process. Our interviews with other staff members confirmed a lack of respect by many. Some parents also expressed concerns. They feel that the counselors are very inconsistent. Some had good experiences while others expressed the concern that they weren't experienced in counseling and spend too much time on administrative tasks and not enough on students. The District Management Council 7 Harcourt Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116 - Tel:1877-DMC-3500 | Fax:617-491-5266 |www.dmcouncil.org