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Middle-school counselor warns students will lose support if board keeps proposed cut
Summary
A Little Falls middle-school counselor told the school board that eliminating the second middle-school counseling position would leave students with far less access to support, pointing to American School Counselor Association ratios and saying the cut would overburden remaining staff.
"By cutting this position, we risk depriving our students of the support they desperately need," Allison (a middle-school counselor) told the Little Falls School Board during public comment, urging the board to reconsider eliminating the district's second middle-school counseling position.
Allison described the counselors' role in academic, social, emotional and behavioral supports and referenced the American School Counselor Association recommendation for caseloads. She said the proposed change would leave the ratio at roughly "500 to 1," and that the remaining counselor and social worker would be overburdened, reducing proactive and individualized supports for vulnerable students.
Board members followed with brief questions about the top mental-health issues Allison encounters; she identified personal and social concerns—peer relationships and navigating school and family interactions—as the most common needs. Board member Doug (speaker 8) later asked whether the topic should be revisited in light of retirement incentives and other staffing changes.
No formal board action to reverse the position elimination was recorded at the meeting. The public comment and the board's subsequent exchange put the counselor cutoff on the record and signaled interest among some members in further discussion.
