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Help Wanted: A local look at a nationwide school counselor crisis

It's a nationwide crisis in the one place where it's of the most importance. A shortage on school counselors, not to mention that one isn't even required in 19 states, including Texas. CBS19's LaDyrian Cole takes a closer look at the situation here in East Texas.

EAST TEXAS — At least a dozen threats of violence have been made toward schools across East Texas just within the last few months. In some cases, the reason for alarm going further than just words.

Thankfully, none of these threats have been executed. But for some students, simply the possibility of something happening can lead to emotional trauma, and when it does, who, on campus, can students turn to address their concerns, fears and feelings?

"We rely on our teachers and support staff to be in there day in and day out with students, and when they recognize that there's an issue or a concern, they do direct that to the counselors so that they can check in on them," says Lori Anderson, Lindale ISD's Director of Federal Programs.

What does it mean for students when the school counselor is overworked, undertrained, or simply not tasked to deal with any other aspect of the student outside of academics?

"We were starting to see several situations where students needed more specific treatment or an individual who was more specifically trained to deal with maybe trauma in a child's background that they were dealing with," says Anderson.

Anderson has worked in Lindale ISD for 23-years. It's one of nine local districts that gave CBS19 insight on the role of the counselor in its schools.

"I definitely have seen the counselor's role change over the last 20 years, just with different student needs, different tools and devices that students have available that can, in turn, negatively impact them."

"I've been in some districts where we strictly where [responsible for] schedules and a lot of paperwork," says Bill Irvine, lead counselor for Pine Tree ISD. "I've been other districts where it's been, 'okay we need you to be ready to respond to any and every more social, emotional need.'"

It's no secret that the school counselor wears a lot of hats. Irvine has served students in this position for 16-years in three districts, including Pine Tree ISD, where he is one of ten counselors employed districtwide.

"Unfortunately, it's really been purely mostly the academic route," says Irvine. "I know a lot of schools are looking for ways to turn that tide. But with STAAR testing and the push for colleges and different things like that assigned to counselors, unfortunately, it goes more to the academic route."

This is the reality for most districts mainly due to high student-to-counselor ratios. The American School Counselor Association recommends no more than 250-students to one counselor, but nearly 85-percent of schools nationwide miss that mark.

Of the dozen East Texas districts CBS19 reached out to for this report, nine districts responded with the requested information. Here's the numbers, specifically at the high school level.

Tyler ISD, the largest district in Smith County, has six counselors at both John Tyler and Robert E. Lee High Schools, with an average ratio of about one to 360-students. Lindale ISD has two counselors at its high school who balance about 500-students each.

Over in Gregg County, four counselors at Pine Tree High School are assigned roughly 300-students each. In Hallsville ISD, the same number of counselors are responsible for anywhere between 400- to 600-students.

While many districts have ratios that either come close to what's recommended or surpass it by hundreds, there are some East Texas districts that have taken heed to ACSA's ratio warning at the high school level, including White Oak ISD, Chapel Hill ISD, and Spring Hill ISD.

"We would love if we had one additional counselor that could focus on some of the testing or the 504 things that take up a lot of time for us, then that would be able to free up [some time], and I would imagine that would be every counselor's answer across the board," says Irvine.

In order to lighten the workload of its counselors, several districts have launched partnerships, outsourcing contracted licensed professional counselors or LPCs to fill the gap. Among those districts are Tyler ISD, Winona ISD, and Lindale ISD. Other districts have implemented resources like anonymous alert apps and sites accessible to students and parents who wish to report incidents of bullying, violence and threats of suicide.

"We have definitely seen a few situations resolved through that reporting system; whereas, we might not have known about it otherwise," says Anderson.

Irvine says, "there's a lot of stuff that our kids go through that we never know and they're not going to come to us even if we are here."

One in four schools nationwide do not have counselors, and one in five school districts are without even one counselor for the entire district. Texas is one of 19-states that doesn't mandate a requirement for school counselors. However, if one is hired, they must meet state standards.

"It is unfortunate if the school doesn't have a counselor, because the counselor is supposed to be the one that fights for the whole kid," says Irvine. "We're looking at the academics at the same time we're looking at the emotional side."

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