By Chris Kenning
ckenning@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
 

When Carol Montgomery began her school-counseling career in the 1970s, the focus was on talking with students individually about worries ranging from bullying to boyfriends.

For the 214 Jefferson County Public Schools counselors whom Montgomery now oversees, that's still a part of the job — but a much smaller one.

Tight budgets and pressure to raise test scores have loaded counselors in Kentucky and across the nation with academic, testing and administrative duties, squeezing the time available to meet students' social and emotional needs, some counselors say.

Even without the extra duties, Kentucky's counselors already are stretched thin, according to the American School Counselor Association in Virginia, which says there should be no more than 250 students for each counselor.

Kentucky and Jefferson County had about 453 students per counselor in 2003, the latest federal figures available.

That's less than the national rate of 478, but, "When you get over 300, you start to lose" connections with individual students, said Kevin Quinn, vice president of the national association.

"Who suffers? Many times, it's the student," said Charles Patton, an Ohio County (Ky.) High School counselor and president of the Kentucky School Counselor Association. "We can't see them all."

Patton said he and his Kentucky colleagues have urged state lawmakers to improve the counselor-student ratio, but budget constraints have hobbled their efforts.

Although some educators view the greater focus on academics as a more productive role, some counselors say what's lost is a chance to build relationships and teach skills that can prevent trouble down the road.

In high school, for example, counselors often must work on class schedules, financial aid, college applications, testing, grading and education plans, and also must help with limited-English and special-education students.

Some monitor lunchrooms, help sick students and follow up on attendance problems.

In between, they must find time to counsel students with problems from parental fights and peers to eating disorders, family deaths, divorces, pregnancies and abuse.

"It's hard -- you're pulled in so many different directions," said Pat Cantwell, one of several counselors at Louisville's Atherton High.

On a recent school day, Cantwell's phone rang as several students waited at her door for college recommendations and schedule changes. A parent called wanting to know if her daughter was in class.

Cantwell later hustled out the door, ducking into senior classrooms to pass out financial-aid forms and warn of upcoming ACT college-entrance exams.

"You might have (your day) all planned, then you need to go to the hospital with a student, or a parent stops by," she said. "You put out a lot of fires and try to get the rest of the stuff in."

Atherton student Sarah Sodol, 18, said that when she was struggling in math, Cantwell helped get assistance, including an after-school tutoring program.

For Erin Casey, 17, the counselor's help included guiding her through a difficult freshman year. "She's helped me a lot," Erin said.

Peggy Hines, director of the National Center for Transforming School Counseling in Washington, D.C., said there's been a shift in the role of a counselor.

A greater focus on raising achievement for all students has made academics a more critical part of the job, whereas many counselors once viewed themselves more as mental-health workers, she said.

Although the number of school counselors nationally grew slightly during the 1990s, she said, funding shortfalls and testing pressures are leading to cuts in some states.

"School counselors across the country are being let go like crazy. In the time of financial tightness, superintendents will say: 'I need to get the most bang for my buck. And we're in the business of student achievement.' Those (counselors) who believe they are mental-health therapists, they're getting cut," she said.

Colleges are beginning to update counselor-education programs to respond to a new, more academic orientation. In Kentucky, new counselors must have a master's degree in the subject, and they share pay scales with teachers and administrators.

Mary Higgins, a 21-year veteran counselor at Bowling Green Junior High, is working more closely with teachers, shepherding students through tutoring or remedial work or studying school test data to find ways to raise scores, she said.

Hines noted that focusing on helping students succeed academically can defuse many self-esteem and behavior problems before they start -- reducing the need for one-on-one help.

Jefferson County reduced its ninth-grade retention rate -- freshmen who failed to progress to their sophomore year -- by having counselors set up study-skill courses, stress requirements, send letters to parents and organize older students to address freshmen, officials said.

Hines also argues that counselors can still attend to emotional needs, partly by working in different ways, such as rethinking school policies that make children feel marginalized, and by eliminating busywork, such as counting test booklets or doing clerical jobs.

But Jade Maddox, a Russell, Ky., counselor and president-elect of the state counseling association, said Kentucky counselors are "doing bus duties, clerical work, calculating grade-point averages, doing discipline, following up on absences and completing registrations. It takes away from the children."

Marty Vowels, who recently retired as principal of Iroquois Middle School in Louisville, acknowledged that she had little choice but to assign school counselors extra duties. But that meant that when she asked counselors to train students to cope with trauma at home, they simply couldn't, she said.

"So many needed help with conflict resolution, anger management. That's what they (counselors) should have been doing, but it became increasingly difficult," Vowels said. "It's lack of funds."

In Ohio County, Patton said counselors struggle to see high school students who seek help promptly. His district's six elementary schools have no counselors, he said.

Carol Montgomery said Jefferson County's 214 counselors serving more than 97,000 students aren't enough: "I wish we had more," she said.

Paula Wolf, a parent who heads the Jefferson County PTA, recognizes money for education remains tight -- but worries about the impact on counselors.

"They can't do everything … you spread somebody too thin, they can't do anything well," she said.

Reporter Chris Kenning can be reached at (502) 582-4697.