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Counselor of the Year praises direct-admit programs; cites part‑time positions and low starting pay as retention barriers
Summary
The state’s school counselor of the year described how direct-admissions programs and counseling interventions can change student trajectories, but said many counselor positions are split or part time and starting salaries discourage licensed candidates from taking full-time school roles.
Sydney Paris, the 2025 Minnesota School Counselor of the Year and a high-school counselor at Stillwater Area High School, told the Senate Education Policy Committee that direct-admissions programs and proactive counseling work can open opportunities for students while strained staffing and compensation limit what counselors can do.
Paris described a recent example: a senior who had self-selected out of college but discovered through a direct-admissions email that she had already been accepted to multiple Minnesota colleges. Paris said the student’s reaction was dramatic — “You’ve already been accepted to 20 colleges in the state of Minnesota” — and that the direct-admit program helped change the student’s postsecondary trajectory.
Paris and other witnesses said school counselors perform academic, social‑emotional and college‑and‑career work, and that smaller caseloads would allow more proactive supports. Paris said Minnesota’s counselor-to-student ratio is near the bottom nationally — “we're ranked at 48” — and that many counseling positions are part time or split across buildings. Valerie Doseland of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators told the committee that districts sometimes split positions for economic reasons: minimum aid guarantees or site budgets do not always cover a full-time hire and shared positions are a budgeting response.
Paris said compensation can be a barrier: counselors require a master’s degree, but starting wages in some districts fall below $40,000, making recruitment and retention difficult. Witnesses said recent state workforce-pipeline grants have increased interest in school-based social work and counseling, but that building a sustained pipeline will take time.
Senators asked about program funding, the permanence of direct-admissions grants and whether telehealth can extend services; Paris and other witnesses recommended continuing investments that support full-time positions, competitive pay, and workforce-pipeline grants so schools can reduce caseloads and increase preventive services.
