McAllen ISD highlights counseling services; 27 campuses earn Crest recognition

McAllen ISD’s counseling and guidance department gave the board an overview Tuesday of districtwide counseling services, from social-emotional learning to tiered family-treatment programs described as part of campus supports.

Director Norma Cabrera told trustees the district’s counseling mission focuses on college, career and social-emotional supports and that McAllen ISD already aligns counselor duties with a counseling-first model that matches expectations in state law. Cabrera said elementary schools mostly have one counselor (with a few larger campuses having two), middle schools typically have two counselors each, and high schools have academic and college counselors.

Cabrera described a three-tiered support model: universal supports for all students (Tier 1), targeted group or individual counseling for about 20–25 percent of students (Tier 2), and intensive services for about 5–7 percent of students (Tier 3). She said district social workers support homeless and foster students and that the district currently identifies about 350 students as homeless and about 48 as foster students.

Cabrera noted that the district packages campus plans and annual reports to demonstrate compliance with state counseling guidance and to apply for Crest recognition; she said 27 McAllen ISD campuses were Crest-recognized this year and Fields Elementary received a district leadership award for Crest recognition. Cabrera also announced the district’s counselors of the year: Jacqueline Cantu (Houston Elementary) as elementary counselor of the year and Brianna Rojas (lead counselor at Mac High) as secondary counselor of the year.

The item was presented for information and no board action was required.