School counselors call for clear definition of duties, scope of work

Public school counselors want clarity on their duties and responsibilities, and they don't want to be distracted with anything that takes them away from helping needy students - that was the focus of a roundtable hearing on a bill by Senator Telena Nelson to address their concerns.

Among those testifying in support of the measure was University of Guam counseling professor Leilani Guerrero, who said that under American School Counselor Association guidelines, counselors should be spending 80 percent of their time addressing direct and indirect student services.

"The disconnect happens when they get to the school sites because they're tasked with so many inappropriate duties that they can't reach that 80 percent," she explained. Guerrero added, "As a school counselor for ten years; I can personally say that all those extra inappropriate school counseling duties definitely took me away from my students."

School counselor David Pexa says because of the lack of clarity and a specific job description, over time things have been added to their plate that take them away from dealing directly with students.

"I think it's really come to a head because we got to the point where we crossed the line where we've been asked to take on a little bit more responsibility when we're dealing with suicidal ideation," Pexa said. "Social, emotional wellness has become more of a concern and priority nationally and that gets into dicey water. Nobody wants to have a child commit suicide and be responsible for that because we're distracted with other things."

The bill's sponsor, Nelson, said there has been pushback from school administrators over other aspects in the measure such as temporary certification.

And interim education superintendent Francis Santos met with school counselors to try and iron out their concerns, saying, "I support the intent of the bill. I just ask that give us the opportunity first from the administrators level to accomplish what you're trying  to do in this bill and if we can do it then we really don't need law. There's certain sections that I think should be codified, and I'll address that with our legal team, and find which sections will deal best with how to move this process forward."