Dear Harbinger,

I would like to bring to your attention the lack of availability and access for students to meet with their guidance counselors. It has become increasingly difficult for students to set up appointments with their counselors to discuss important issues they may face or are currently dealing with. Counselors often either reschedule or postpone meetings which can be a strain on students who need to meet immediately. Counselors should put student needs and concerns above all else especially if a students future or mental health is at stake. Meetings should be scheduled at any point throughout the day not just during a students free period or elective because not every student has these periods available. Another note to make is that counselors should not schedule other meetings with students so close to each other because they can never know how long a student wishes to speak with them and some students may feel rushed or that they can’t discuss everything they wish to discuss because their counselors need to meet with another student. One note that I would like to bring up is that I think counselors are assigned too many students. It can take days for me to even get in to see my counselor because they have too many students they need to meet with, which can be progressively strenuous especially if I need to meet immediately about an issue. I feel as though counselors try to meet with too many people per day, which can take time away from each individual appointment. Counselors need to be available more frequently to meet with students as this has become a pressing issue in recent years. By scheduling less appointments with students throughout the day and extending the time of each appointment, counselors can spend longer time addressing the needs of students instead of rushing through the problems because another appointment is approaching. By making these changes, students form a stronger bond with their counselors as they get to spend that crucial one on one time addressing and speaking about such issues and problems without feeling the need to summarize for the sake of time.

Sincerely,

Vanessa Roy

Class of 2019