Policy review committee advances counseling, advisement policy to full board

The Atlanta Board of Education's policy review committee advanced a proposed policy (IG) that would require Atlanta Public Schools to provide robust counseling and advisement services to students beginning in kindergarten and to set districtwide expectations for those services. General Counsel Madalena Gupta presented the proposal as the product of prior board discussions and said it establishes guardrails for access and practice across the district.

Dr. Casey Brock, who led the policy effort, said the draft reflects many board amendments and urged the committee to strengthen two areas: technology and training. "We didn't really name in here what that baseline technology needs to look like or where there's data being stored," Brock said, arguing the district should standardize platforms and collect consistent data on college applications and postsecondary outcomes. He also pressed for higher-quality counselor training so the work is not reduced to checking a few boxes.

Chair Alfred Sheree Brooks called for a modest, near-term budget commitment to hire additional counselors to reduce caseload pressure. "If that meant an extra 10 counselors across the district or 12 counselors across the district," Brooks said, "it's not gonna cure it, but I do want to give relief to our counselors and more access for our students who need it now." The committee referenced the state of Georgia guideline cited in discussion as about a 1-to-450 student–counselor ratio and discussed aiming to bring that nearer to 1-to-400.

Board members debated whether specific minimum contact requirements should be placed in the policy or deferred to administrative regulation. Several members favored keeping the policy principle-based and asking administration to develop a regulation that sets minimums with an opt-out or deferral mechanism for students who can demonstrate they do not need regular scheduled meetings.

After discussion and requests for a district audit of which counseling platforms schools currently use, the committee voted to move the policy forward for final approval by the full board. The motion to advance the policy was made by Dr. Casey Brock and seconded by Board member Tony Mitchell.

The committee asked administration to return a cleaned-up draft that (1) clarifies whether the policy or a regulation will specify minimum touchpoints, (2) describes training expectations for counselors, and (3) provides results of a technology/platform audit tying tools to desired outcomes. The full board will consider the policy at its next meeting.