Savannah R-III Guidance

“A Growing District for Growing Minds”

December 2015

School Counselors

High School -783 StudentsKaren TaylorKaren RossShelly Vertin

Middle School - 545K’Lea Steeby

Minnie Cline - 554 studentsLaura Shelton - full timeMegan Beck- 2.5 days/week

Amazonia - 84 studentsMegan Beck - 2.5 days/week

John Glenn - 283 studentsSharon Evans - 3.5 days/week

Helena - 98 studentsSharon Evans - 1.5 days/week

Suggested Use of Time (Percentage Rate)

Elementary Middle High

Guidance Curriculum

35-45 25-35 15-25

Individual and Student Planning

5-10 15-25 25-35

Responsive Services

30-40 30-40 25-35

System Support 10-15 10-15 15-20

*Recommended by the Missouri Comprehensive Guidance and Counseling Program

*100% of a school counselor's time should be devoted to the implementation, delivery, and management of the guidance and counseling programs

Actual Use of Time

● Elementaryo 50% of time is spent on classroom guidance o Less than 30% of time spent on responsive services

● Middle Schoolo 40% of time spent on guidance curriculum. *Community

Without community it’s 25-30% o About 50% of time in responsive services

A lot more referrals and individual counseling this year● High School

o More than 35% of time spent in responsive serviceso Less than 15% in classroom guidance

● Misc non-guidance activities (ELL Assessments, 504 Plans, Testing, Homebound, Kindergarten Screenings, etc...)

*Prioritizing our time = responsive services (more reactive)

MSIP 5 & Guidance and Counseling

Staff ratios for guidance and counseling are a part of the resource standards. The standard for guidance and counseling has been established at 1-500 ratio, K-12. However, the recommended ratio is 1-250. This is a reduction of 100 students from MSIP 4 which came as a result of the solid body of evidence that has built up over the years that demonstrates the positive impact on student achievement in schools with lower ratios.

MSIP 5 Guidance and Counseling research indicates school counselors can make a positive difference when provided the resources and time to work with students.

The process standards of MSIP define what a quality guidance and counseling program should look like in schools and the standard is found under the “Instruction” Standard.

High School

Karen Taylor-Students with last names A-F- 228 students- 313 A+ Students

Karen Ross-Students with last names G-O-295 students

Shelly Vertin-Students with last names P-Z-260 students

* Preferred staffing would include 1 full-time College & Career Counselor (many high schools of comparable size include this position)

Middle School

K’Lea Steeby-Grades 6-8

-545 Students

*Recommended staffing would be 2 full-time school counselors

Elementary CounselorsLaura Shelton

- Minnie Cline grades K-3- 372 students

Megan Beck- Minnie Cline grades 4-5

- 182 students- Amazonia grades K-5

- 84 studentstotal students=266

Sharon Evans- John Glenn grades K-5

- 283 students- Helena grades K-5

- 98 studentstotal students = 381

*Recommended staffing: 2 full-time counselors at Minnie Cline, 1 full-time counselor at John Glenn, and a split counselor between Helena and Amazonia

Non-Guidance Duties

• Homebound Coordination• Kindergarten Screenings• A+ Coordination• Building Assessment Coordinator

• Examples: MAP, EOC, ASVAB, ACT, PSAT• 504 Plans• ELL Plans

Strengths

• Restoring of 1 elementary counselor during the 2014-2015 school year

• Yearly student and parent advisory meetings provide valuable program feedback

• Monthly district counselor’s meetings provide collaboration and alignment

• Strong professional organization involvement and leadership• serving on local, district, and state levels

Concerns• Counselor availability is compromised at

elementary and middle school levels• Domino effect at high school• Follow-up meetings with students

• Constantly reactive• Being proactive and preventative are our goals

• Parent Advisory Concerns• Amount of face time spent with students• Being stretched too thin to effectively help all students

http://moschoolcounselor.org/files/2015/05/504-position-paper.pfd

Concerns

• Referrals (parents, teachers, administrators, students self-referring) are at an all-time high• At Middle School level weekly check-ins

cannot happen with all of the referral students.

• Elementary counselors are scheduled as “specials” teachers• Results in counselor being unavailable when

needed • DFS contacts, Parent contact, Student

needing responsive services

ConcernsSignificant increase in parents who report students with a mental

health diagnosis

*Data from School Health Services Report

Diagnosis 2010-2011 2014-2015

ADD/ADHD 190 236

Anxiety 0 49

Asperger’s Syndrome 7 4

Autism 6 17

Bi-polar 15 14

Depression 15 43

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder 12 9

Oppositional Defiance Disorder 12 10

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 5 2

Total 262 384

Thank You: We appreciate your continued support!

Questions???