Whether it’s applying to jobs and postsecondary options, seeking scholarships, or navigating our academic and social lives, students have a lot on our plates. As we finish up our four years of high school, the list of tasks to complete grows longer, and the future stares us in the face. Fortunately, school counselors are here to help, and they are also confidants with whom we can share our ups and downs. However, at IHS, a shortage of counselors and a pattern of high turnover leaves students in a place where they are not sure how to receive the help they need. Three counselors have left IHS in the past two years, and the team as a whole has only consisted of five members until this last school year. This issue of counselor retention has not always been a problem at IHS. According to Kas Bilyk, who is now in her twentieth year as a school counselor at IHS, counselor retention failure “has become more prevalent” in recent years, and multiple issues have arisen as a result.
Retention problems impact students in many ways, with the lack of connection between student and counselor being the most pertinent issue. According to Raquel Gonzalez, a new school counselor at IHS who has been working in the education field for twenty-four years, “It’s so important to have longevity with students. To stay put, and build those relationships, and build that culture. And it does take away something from students when they lose those connections and they have to rebuild again.” Students should be able to create a relationship with their counselor where they feel comfortable sharing their hopes and dreams, struggles and problems, and everything in between. Danielle LaGrua, a new counselor at IHS who previously interned as a counselor in New York City, states that, “It’s incredibly important to build a relationship with my students. I don’t expect students to immediately open up to me until they feel comfortable with me and trust me.” When a counselor is at IHS for only one or two years, a student may not reach that point of comfort, and they will lose that valuable adult from whom they may receive support.
In an effort to examine the effects of school counselor retention issues on students, The Tattler conducted a survey on the experiences of juniors and seniors at IHS—both those who had the same counselor throughout their years at IHS and those who had multiple. The results of the survey, which had nearly one hundred respondents—around half of which had the same counselor and half of which had multiple—clearly showed the negative impact of having multiple counselors on a student.
The results of this survey are worrying. Students with multiple counselors throughout high school were much more likely to report feeling “uncomfortable” or “very uncomfortable” discussing their academic lives, and were more than twice as likely to report feeling “very comfortable” discussing their mental health. This stark difference in students’ comfort shows the drastic effect on student mental health and academic needs that school counselor retention rates can have. The Tattler believes that, by actively working towards better school counselor retention at IHS, the mental health and academic prowess of students can improve. It is evident that retention issues are negatively impacting students.
Another negative effect of retention issues is the significant stress put on counselors when the turnover rate is high. Charmine Warriner is in her fifth year as a school counselor at IHS. She states that, “If someone in our department was tasked with doing something and now they’re gone, now we’re more stressed because maybe they were the only one that had that information [regarding a specific student].” Because of this, counselors must work harder and longer to get to know a student, and the effect of a counselor leaving will be felt for a long while after. Catching up on previous counselors’ work adds more onto the plates of current counselors.
Additionally, writing letters of recommendation—a task school counselors are responsible for—is more difficult when a counselor does not know a student well. “For a kid I’ve known for four years versus a kid I might have met [with] for twenty minutes, I’m going to work hard with that student to have them complete the things I need so that I can give them a good-quality letter of recommendation,” says Ms. Warriner, “It’s undeniable that this [counselor who left] you had a relationship with can attest to things that maybe we just can’t.” This means that counselors are having to put in extra work to write letters of recommendation for students they have not known for long, and will also meet with them more times to write a letter that does the student justice.
As for the reason behind a high turnover rate, it’s mostly a matter of burnout. One counselor admitted that “the biggest challenge that [we are] facing is maintaining balance in [our] life.” Another commented on the “culture of our school,” stating that there is a “demand to always be ‘on’,” both from administration and from families. School counselors need to be able to get true rest on weekends and be given room to make mistakes, both things that are not being accommodated enough at the moment. “Just like with mental health [support] in the community, just like with social workers in the community, I think that when you’re in a helping field, it can take a toll on you,” said a counselor, and this is true for all IHS social workers and psychologists, as well. Helping other people with social-emotional health is taxing, and can lead to short-term employment when there is not enough support.
Current school counselors at IHS would like to see their job pay more, and believe that if the salaries were more competitive it would draw in more talent. According to the ICSD school counselor notice posted this summer, the range of offered salaries at ICSD is ten thousand dollars lower than the average range of salaries in New York State. In addition to an increase in salary, counselors would like for their team to be larger in size. An increase in youth mental health struggles and a decrease in standardized test scores can be helped by school counselors, who work to assist students with mental health and academic aptitude. “There’s such a high demand for addressing the social-emotional needs of students, that we could probably benefit from having a larger team,” says Ms. Bilyk, with this statement supported by other counselors. According to Ms. Gonzalez, “When we’re addressing social-emotional needs of students, it’s something that you don’t want to rush.” A small team of counselors literally means less time spent with each student.
The final piece to improving retention is all-around support and patience—both from administration and families. Actions speak louder than words, and The Tattler believes that vocal support is just the first step in helping counselors. Increasing salaries, hiring more counselors, and continuing to improve upon support can bring about a new era of strong school counselor retention, where counselors and students alike are more comfortable and in touch. In Ms. Warriner’s words, “Come to Student Services, see us, talk to us. We want to help you. Whether that’s academic all the way to mental health needs. We’re here and we’re ready.” The Tattler Editorial Board believes that all students should be able to take advantage of this fantastic resource, and that IHS must and should address retention issues immediately in order for the school counselor team to reach their full potential.
