Unpacking the Impact

February, 2023

Pre pandemic, there were over 68,000 Columbus City School students who were either under served or not serviced with a full time school counselor. Using ESSER dollars, the district quickly realized the need for not only academic support for students returning from the worldwide shutdown, but also the great need for social and emotional support. Students returned to hybrid and in-person learning with pandemic-induced trauma, insecurity about their world, saw their parents lose jobs during the pandemic, and even lost loved ones to COVID-19. In all the uncertainty caused by the pandemic, one thing became crystal clear-- our students needed support.

ESSER funding has allowed, for the first time ever, a full time school counselor in every single CCS building. Even non-traditional settings such as the Juvenile Intervention Center, Home Instruction and the Student Support Center now have a full time school counselor. Nine high schools and four middle schools were able to receive at least one additional full time school counselor, thus enabling the district to meet the American School Counseling Association recommended 250:1 caseload ratio for all school counselors. The district's youngest learners went from having a school counselor 2-3 times a week to having a full time school counselor on site every day.

Marion Franklin High School received an additional school counselor thanks to ESSER funding. Ms. Hatch joined Mrs. McCormick and Mrs. Holliman to offer a plethora of student services focusing on the whole child. The addition of Ms. Hatch lowered the caseloads for the School Counsellors from over 200:1 to 137:1. This has completed transformed the depth of work the School Counselors are able to do with students and their families.

Of course, students can see their school counselor for social and emotional support, but because of the addition of Ms. Hatch, the school counselors are able to offer so much more! "School Counselors act as a students' advocate, providing them with resources and direction to help them succeed in school" as noted in the Marion Franklin School Counselor brochure that hangs outside the school counseling offices. Individual counseling, small groups, classroom guidance, college and career guidance, and even providing real-time classroom lessons and interventions are all part of the School Counseling job description.

Ms. Hatch has been a wonderful and safe addition to the Marion Franklin community. Within 45 minutes, she had 7 impromptu touch bases with students. Some just stopped by to say hello and ask for a fidget while others stopped by for their daily hug and check in. As one student put it, "Ms. Hatch makes me feel like I belong here." Another student found her in the hall and apologized for yelling at her, and said he was having a bad day; he then asked if he could see her at lunch. It is sometimes hard to imagine how just one more staff member can make such difference, but Ms. Hatch has shown not only the need for Marion Franklin School Counselors to have smaller caseloads, but also how important the students need to have that additional support.

Miss Stoneburner has had a busy first semester at Champion Middle School! ESSER funding has allowed CCS to add school counselors in several previously unserved and under served areas of the district. Champion Middle School was one of the schools to receive an ESSER funded School Counselor.

At Champion Middle School, Miss Stoneburner is not just a school counselor, but also a teacher, taking time in each grade level to teach self-regulation strategies and supporting the Board's priority of closing achievement gaps by prioritizing a whole-child focus. Already this school year, she has taught over 54 social-emotional lessons to her students, and made sure every student had food over Wellness Week and Winter Break. She had 257 individual counseling sessions in a building that has an enrollment of 347 students. Her first semester focus was squarely on building relationships, creating community partnerships and making sure opportunity gaps were recognized and received the support needed to close the gaps.

• “Having a full-time School Counselor at Alpine has been extremely beneficial to both students and families. I am able to help with crisis intervention on a regular basis and help all students build a Toolbox of Strategies to manage their emotions. This helps students greatly increase their academic success.” (Alpine ES)
• “My numbers for points of contact have quadrupled . . ." (North Linden ES)
  
• “ (I) have heard so many things from staff at my school about what a difference being full-time has made for their students. My principal has said more than once that he does not ever want to go back to having a part-time counselor.” (Binns ES)
  

And it's not just the CCS staff that have noticed! Here is a letter from an elementary parent:

"Let me share with you a little bit about how having a full time counselor has impacted our entire building this year. All classes in all grade levels are receiving focused Social Emotional Learning this year, helping all our learners navigate their bodies, feelings, and friendships at a deeper level, which significantly lifts the environment of their entire building. This work is critical after the ravaging dysregulation from the recent Covid-impacted years in Education, as well as building trust and relationships with our learners. We know relationships and connection are key in transforming lives. Children with weekly and daily struggles and complex challenges have had Madame Ortega as a consistent safe presence to help them process, and return to class ready to learn. This level of connection and availability is not possible when in a building part time. Madame Ortega has been able to have such a significant impact with our students and school through her daily work and presence in both classrooms and then with individual students.

At a personal level, my sensitive, sweet 9 year old daughter with her own set of challenges from the Covid years has come declaring "It's Thursday, my favorite day of the week - we did therapy (SEL positive cognitive therapy) class with Madame Ortega. I want to be a counselor when I grow up!" (She also wants to be an artist, so we're talking about the field of Art Therapy!)

I encourage Columbus City Schools to continue full time counselors in all buildings with the recognition of the incredible need and powerful impact their presence has."

Data Support Coordinator

Office of Transformation and Leadership

Email: thelmbrecht6433@columbus.k12.oh.us
Website: www.ccsoh.us
Location: 3700 South High Street, Columbus, OH, USA
Phone: (380)997-0787
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ColumbusCitySchools/
Twitter: @ColsCitySchools