Cape Girardeau school officials worry about cut's effect on counseling department

The working day of the average guidance counselor is a day filled with questions.

Questions about career path, college preparation, testing, class scheduling.

Those arguably are the easy ones compared to the social and emotional disorders in today's students. Problems like self-injury or mutilation, cyberbullying, teen pregnancy, socioeconomic issues in a challenging economy.

"We have a lot of students working to support their families, and they feel like they are becoming adults too fast," said Amy Sutterer, guidance counselor at Cape Girardeau Central High School and chairwoman of the counseling department.

Counselors in the Cape Girardeau School District, officials say, are confronting a more diverse and different array of student needs than they did a decade ago, and they're doing it with smaller staffs.

In the wake of deep state education spending cuts, the district eliminated one high school counselor position this school year, reducing the department from four to three. Central Junior High School and Central Middle School each lost a half-equivalent position. There are 1.5 counselors at those buildings this year.

While increased community resources have helped fill the gaps, Sutterer said the loss of the fourth counselor is felt. The three guidance professionals are now responsible for about 350 students each, which she said diminishes critical one-on-one time and effective relationship building.

"At the end of day, we do walk out of here really exhausted. We are giving everything we can throughout the day," she said.

Deena Ring, the district's director of special services, noted staff reductions and more diverse student needs in her evaluation of the school system's guidance and counseling program this week. Still, she graded the department as excellent, counting several strengths. Despite the funding cuts to the $812,000 program, Ring said there remains a counselor in every building and that the numbers fall within the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's minimum standard for counselor-to-student ratio.

But as the district drives to significantly increase its graduation rate and prepare more students for post-secondary education, school board member Kyle McDonald wonders whether guidance counselors are being spread too thin.

"Is there a sufficient amount of manpower and hours to allow students that kind of counseling as well, or is a lot of time being consumed by other types of needs?" McDonald asked after Ring's evaluation of the program at Monday's school board meeting.

Ring said counselors work with freshmen in Preparing for Academic Success classes, providing detailed information on core graduation requirements and class scheduling.

"My concern is the students not in the PAS class," McDonald said. "Are they still needing that guidance to make sure they have that little extra push in order to enroll in a university or college?"

Community help

Sutterer said the monthly program takes up a huge part of counselors' time.

But there is assistance. A social worker helps out at the high school and junior high. A parent liaison takes on some responsibilities at the junior high building. A grant program pays for the services of a Southeast Missouri State University guidance professional at the high school. And community church groups work with at-risk students.

But the help only goes so far in meeting the needs of a counseling staff on the front lines of student academic, emotional and social development, school officials said. High school principal Dr. Mike Cowan told the school board that counseling services are not as effective this year with the diminished staff.

Counseling services are taking a hit nationwide, said Amanda Fitzgerald, director of public policy for the American School Counselor Association. She said the advocacy group recently worked with a California school district threatening to eliminate its entire guidance counseling staff. With federal stimulus dollars drying up and a House bill targeting the elimination of $55 million in federal funds for school counseling services, Fitzgerald said significant budget cuts appear to be coming.

"We're expecting things will get worse before they get better at this point," she said.

With some expected savings from a more favorable employee health insurance package, McDonald said he would like to see administrators explore the potential of restoring guidance and counseling staff. Administrators say all programming must be measured against limited dollars and the district's education priorities and goals.

"No program is an island unto itself. It fits into a larger network," Ring said. "Every department would welcome additional workers or help with resources.

"But we have not lost sight of the fact that there were four counselors there last year."

mkittle@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

1000 S. Silver Springs Road, Cape Girardeau, MO