More counselors called for at hearing on school safety

Boosting the supply of school counselors and expanding mental health services for students were among the recommendations state lawmakers heard during a House Public Education Committee meeting on school safety Wednesday.

The hearing was the second one held by House representatives since Gov. Greg Abbott released his 40-point school safety plan in response to the Santa Fe High School shooting that claimed 10 lives last month.

“What our educators faced, what our students faced in Santa Fe is not something that we ever want to see happen again. But it is something that we have to be prepared for,” said Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath.

More than a dozen people testified — including educators, mental health professionals and security personnel — and proposed school safety suggestions to lawmakers. Kimberly Ridgeley, director of guidance and counseling for Northside Independent School District, asked the committee to closely examine student-to-counselor ratios in state school districts, which she said fall short of national standards.

Ridgeley said more state funding is needed to help schools hire additional school counselors, who “are often the first line of mental health access that children in Texas have.”

Humble Independent School District Superintendent Elizabeth Fagen said school counselors’ responsibilities should also be re-evaluated. Many counselors are now tasked with clerical responsibilities that take away from their ability to be “the first level of triage” for students, she said.

Michelle Kinder, executive director of the Momentous Institute, said more state funding might also be needed to provide adequate support services for students.

She cautioned lawmakers to not push “quick-fix” legislation. “We’ve got to get counselors counseling again,” Kinder said. “Whatever we do has to be systemic, and it has to be strategic. It cannot be a curric- ulum solution, it cannot be a 30-minute bolt-on.”

But Morath was hesitant to encourage any statewide mandates for more counselors, saying additional personnel might not fulfill the needs of smaller schools.

The Legislature should be conscious that any proposed policy changes don’t put “inefficient, bureaucratic demand” on school districts, Morath said.

State Rep. Dan Huberty, R-Houston, chairman of the Public Education Committee, said Abbott and lawmakers have expressed interest in the idea of adding more counselors. “I think the governor is interested in this as well, and I certainly look forward to having those discussions,” Huberty said.