DCPS cuts - Murch might lose school counselor position?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was told by the central office that they are moving toward having full time social workers in the elementary schools with a 1/2 time counselor position. That is probably a good idea for the populations of most DCPS schools. Probably the inverse of what is needed at Murch and other Ward 3 schools, particularly as most school counselors, if not all, have an MSW. Not sure how that is playing into any budget cuts at Murch or what sounds like some personality conflicts. I think that with autonomous status the principal could probably work around losing the counselor, sounds like the problem is that her priorities may be different than those of the community. Not sure what there is to do about that.

Agree that this does not look like a win for Murch's population.

[Anonymous]

Just wondering what is going on at other Ward 3 schools. A full time social worker isn't a great fit for their populations either.

[Anonymous]

You are misunderstanding what social workers can do - social workers usually have better credentials than counselors and can do at least as much. Being a social worker does not automatically mean that you work with low-income populations! The majority of mental health providers in the country are social workers. In addition, many social workers *are* school counselors - it would only add to the existing skill set of the counselor to also have an MSW degree as well as a social work license.

[Anonymous]

Can anyone speak to why DCPS is moving to full time social workers and part time counselor positions? Seems that social workers might be more expensive with extra licensing so I'm not sure it is cost saving. Is it part of trying to move special ed kids back to local schools?

[Anonymous]

Generally speaking, social workers can be deployed in a greater varieties of ways than counselors can. It gives a principal more flexibility in assigning the right staff to work that needs to be done.

[Anonymous]

Not trying to pick a fight, but please help me understand why a Masters in Social Work is preferable to a Masters or PhD in Psychology for the Ward 3 population?

[Anonymous]

Schools are budgeted the same for a social worker and a counselor. Schools get an overall allocation of something like $98,000 per staff member for counselors, social workers, and teachers. Even if the actual salary + benefits is lower in a particular school, this is what is "charged" against the school's budget, and that's what it costs to "buy" a body.

We got totally screwed this year because they cut our social worker down to part-time in the budget AND removed a counselor position. It was either cut a counselor position or cut the social worker or cut teachers. It sucks, but even schools with enrollment growth got an overall cut this year, because the funding per pupil formula dropped about 30%. Thus, you got more money if you had increased enrollment projections, but you can't pay as much money for the extra staff to cover the enrollment.

In our LSAT, we had a long discussion about what positions to cut - it wasn't an easy decision for anyone in the room, but this is the reality.

People should also be aware that teachers (and the school admin staff) are going without pay on Federal holidays in order to close this year's budget gap, making us one of the few districts in the country to furlough teachers (they're usually considered essential)

[Anonymous]

How do you become part of the LSAT?

[Anonymous]

In many schools, if you say you want to be on the LSAT, congratulations! You're on it!

Officially, it's an elected role, somewhat akin to being an ANC commissioner. I'm not sure how many schools have ever had to run a contested LSAT election. Talk to the principal at your child's school. He or she will probably be ecstatic that someone is interested in serving.

[Anonymous]

our school cut the social worker position to 1/2 time and kept the counselor.

[Anonymous]

For 11-12? What school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...
People should also be aware that teachers (and the school admin staff) are going without pay on Federal holidays in order to close this year's budget gap, making us one of the few districts in the country to furlough teachers (they're usually considered essential)

It realy irked me that DC did this when Loundon had originally furloughed the 2 days before THanksgiving and then decided to use federal funds to make up this pay and they kept the school closed.

So the teachers wound up with full day plus 2 additional vacation days. I am not saying that teachers do not work hard / underpaid etc. Rather, if counties are serious about figuring out ways to close the budget gaps - do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For 11-12? What school?

???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not trying to pick a fight, but please help me understand why a Masters in Social Work is preferable to a Masters or PhD in Psychology for the Ward 3 population?

I'm not sure what "Ward 3 population" has to do with anything. I think you'll find that many school counselors are *not* psychologists, they have a Masters in Counseling which requires far less requirements and credits than an MSW does. I have nothing against school counselors, many of whom do great work. However, even at "Ward 3 schools" there are plenty of children who would benefit from having a social worker around and, as mentioned above, social workers are mental health specialists who can fill school counselor positions very well. Many psychologists employed by schools are testing psychologists. There seems to be a misconception that social workers only work with low-income populations, and this is simply not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For 11-12? What school?

???

This is a question for the poster at 1912 who said their school got a counselor and 1/2 time social worker.