Beginning with the 2013-2014 school year, the Together Helping Education Foundation, in partnership with the Las Virgenes Unified School District, will attempt to raise $422,000 to support counseling resources at LVUSD schools.  Due to lack of funds in recent years, LVUSD eliminated counseling services at every elementary school in the district and limited these services at middle schools and high schools.  LVUSD officials view the school counselors as a necessary part of each student’s personal development.

“When students have a learning or emotional issue it will present itself in elementary school,” said counselor Linda Hull.  “The sooner that we can access resources to help students, the more we can aid their development.”

LVUSD and T.H.E. Foundation are requesting that each member of the district makes a tax-deductible donation of $150 or more to T.H.E. Foundation’s Counselor Campaign to support this cause.  If raised, these funds will be allocated specifically and entirely for increased counseling at LVUSD elementary, middle and high schools.

The organization’s final goals include providing more days per week of counseling services, hiring new counselors and maintaining all of the counselors the district currently employs.

“In high school, students can still have social or emotional reasons for needing counselors,“ said Hull.  “However, there is an increased need for counselors due to academic issues as well as college and career planning.”

Lack of state funding has already led to drastic cuts in counseling services at all LVUSD schools.  CHS has reduced its number of counselors, requiring each of the other counselors to be responsible for more students.  District officials feel that in order to create a more personal relationship between the counselor and his or her students, each counselor should be responsible for as few students as possible.

“I think we need to have more counselors for children because they need someone to guide them and let them know what their options are,” said senior Hannah Frankl.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the recommended ratio of students to counselor is 100 to 1.  Currently, the ratio at CHS is 425 to 1, an already significantly greater ratio than proposed.  T.H.E. Foundation hopes to prevent this ratio from increasing so CHS students and counselors can continue to develop more personal relationships.

Written by Emily Glavin – News Editor and Jessica Smith – News Editor