Clayton presents K–8 counseling program, launches two-year review to align services with student needs

District counselors presented a snapshot of K–8 counseling services and described a planned two-year program review to align counseling programming and personnel with evolving student needs.

Dr. Cameron Poole, the district lead for counseling, said the review will use the Missouri Comprehensive School Program Evaluation (MoCSC) tool to examine four components of school counseling: curriculum, individual student planning, responsive services and system support. "Starting in August, we're going to look at each building and use this tool to see what areas we're doing well in and then areas for improvement, and then that will set our SMART goals and our two-year plan," Poole said.

Counselors said typical time allocation across K–8 this year was roughly 20% on counseling curriculum, 12% on individual student planning, 35% on responsive services (individual and group counseling, crisis work) and 19% on system support, with the remaining time in miscellaneous duties. Elementary counselor Jenny Todd said early intervention guides the work: counselors deliver classroom lessons on social-emotional learning, provide individual and small-group counseling chosen through data-informed referral, coordinate transitions (family center to kindergarten, fifth- to sixth-grade orientation), and collaborate with teachers, families and administrators.

Middle school counseling staff described transition programming (Whitehouse "WEB" orientation for rising sixth graders, eighth-grade visits to high school) and individual career and academic plan (ICAP) work that begins in eighth grade and carries into high school.

Board members asked how counselors track requests for support and how the counselors' work aligns with tiered interventions. Counselors said tracking varies by building: younger students are typically referred by teachers, while older students may email or leave notes; counselors aim to respond within 24 hours. On the tier framework, counselors said classroom curriculum is largely Tier 1, individual student planning tends to be Tier 2, and responsive services include Tier 3 supports.

Poole said the program study will assess three themes: programming (does the curriculum and service mix match current needs?), skill set (do staff have the professional development needed?) and personnel (does staffing match student need). He also announced a new district-level position, a director of support with a mental-wellness background, to help coordinate services.

No board vote was taken; staff said the two-year program study will begin building-level reviews in August and return findings and recommendations to the board at a later date.

Provenance: Presentation and Q&A are documented in the transcript from the counseling presentation through the Q&A and superintendent remarks about department staffing.