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Westborough High School counselors report 4,780 visits, push for more time and consistent services
Summary
Alex Pilger, the high school's director of guidance, told the School Committee the counseling office has six counselors and one adjustment counselor and has recorded 4,780 visits during the school year.
Alex Pilger, director of guidance at Westborough High School, presented a year'end update on the school counseling program, describing staffing, workload and postsecondary outcomes.
Pilger said the high school counseling office comprises six school counselors and one school adjustment counselor, with counselors carrying roughly 200 students each. The department recorded 4,780 counseling visits so far this year and saw 1,010 unique students, he said, noting that some days can have large volumes of visits — up to 59 students in a single day.
Pilger described three main counselor responsibilities: social-emotional support, academic advising, and postsecondary planning. He said the department uses universal mental health screeners on a grade-by-grade schedule and prioritizes follow-up for students who screen at elevated risk, including questions about self-harm. The program uses Naviance to track applications and acceptances and produced a map of the top colleges students are attending, which are concentrated in Massachusetts and the New England region.
On college outcomes Pilger said higher-achieving students often apply to many selective colleges and therefore can receive more rejections proportionally; he said the top 10% of the senior class showed a lower median acceptance-rate measure than some other deciles, a pattern he attributed to application strategy and selectivity of institutions.
Committee members asked detailed questions about staffing and outreach. Steve asked whether military branches hold open houses; Pilger said military representatives generally staff tables at lunch and that college representatives and service academies visit via scheduled representative visits. Dean asked whether six counselors are sufficient; Pilger said the 200:1 caseload aligns with ASCA guidelines, that the department is functional with six counselors but that more staff would allow more individualized support, and that the team tries to triage by student need.
Pilger described several operational goals: clarifying shared knowledge among counselors so students receive consistent information regardless of counselor; improving career-development touch points across grades; and streamlining 504 and IEP transitions. He said the department wants to expand support for students not pursuing college, citing vocational and alternative pathways including military service, trade schools and gap-year programs.
Questions: committee members asked about the number of students who did not attend postsecondary programs (Pilger said zero of those who sought postsecondary options were left without placements), the department's capacity to meet crises (Pilger noted an administrative assistant, Gail Kenefic, triages walk-ins and can interrupt counselors for urgent needs), and whether test-optional admissions affected Westborough students (Pilger said test-optional policies have had limited impact locally because many students still submit SAT scores).
Pilger closed by saying counselors want more time with students and more consistency across the team so "all students, regardless of their counselor, can be privy to the same information."
