Instructional Committee to send ED 306.30-aligned K–12 counseling plan to full board

The Concord School District Instructional Committee voted to send the district's K–12 counseling program, aligned to ED 306.30 and the American School Counseling Association standards, to the full board for approval in June.

Fern Seiden, director of Student and Staff Wellness, told the committee the work crosswalks state requirements with district frameworks such as the Portrait of a Learner and the Crimson Culture to promote whole-child development. "We developed this program that is aligned with ED 306.30 and the broader minimum standards," Seiden said, describing a K–12 curriculum built around social-emotional learning and work-study practices.

Jody McLaughlin, a high-school counselor and committee member, described how the program stages skills across grade bands. "In elementary school, students start with basic empathy skills," McLaughlin said. "By high school, they're learning advocacy and how to use their voice in the school or community." McLaughlin also reported that "since January, we've had 47 reports of student safety screenings" completed across the district, underscoring the amount of counselor time spent on responsive services.

Committee members pressed for measurable outcomes. A board member asked whether the social-skill "I can" statements appear on report cards and whether students have opportunities to self-reflect; presenters said K–5 standards were blended into the elementary report card, middle-school advisories and student-led conferences support reflection, and the high school uses a separate "Crimson Culture" indicator distinct from course grades. Seiden said the district uses MTSS processes and new data sources such as SmartPass to guide interventions and can track attendance, behavioral referrals and other metrics in EduCLIMBER.

Presenters cited community partnerships and grants—Project AWARE, Riverbend and NAMI New Hampshire—as supporting expanded behavioral-health resources. Committee members praised the crosswalk to ASCA standards and asked staff to provide annual or more frequent metric snapshots so the full board can monitor whether interventions are moving students toward less-restrictive tiers.

The committee approved a motion to bring the ED 306.30-aligned counseling plan to the full board in June for adoption. The plan will be accompanied by the district's proposed implementation approach and by data-reporting suggestions so the board can evaluate effectiveness over time.