{"id":685222,"date":"2021-07-07T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/?p=685222"},"modified":"2021-11-29T15:13:44","modified_gmt":"2021-11-29T20:13:44","slug":"superintendents-counselor-corps-doesnt-address-rural-schools-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oklahomawatch.org\/2021\/07\/07\/superintendents-counselor-corps-doesnt-address-rural-schools-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"Superintendents: Counselor Corps Doesn\u2019t Address Rural Schools\u2019 Needs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When Pam Matthews became a teacher in 1981, it was rare for even one of her students in southeast Oklahoma to have divorced parents. Now, kids who haven\u2019t experienced the emotional toll of divorce are the exception. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three years ago, Matthews became the superintendent at Lane Public Schools \u2014 a pre-kindergarten through eighth grade district serving 250 students about 2\u00bd hours southeast of Oklahoma City. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After working in education for nearly four decades, Matthews said students\u2019 mental health is at an all-time low. She said they struggle to cope with family stress, which increased during the pandemic as unemployment spiked and physical and mental health declined. In rural areas like Lane, it is difficult to find help. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new state initiative aims to increase support for struggling students. But administrators from some of Oklahoma\u2019s small, rural districts said the effort doesn\u2019t address their community\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

District officials said even if they received the funding, a shortage of mental health professionals in rural parts of the state would make it nearly impossible to find qualified candidates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the state\u2019s 529 school districts, 35% applied for the School Counselor Corps program, which beginning this school year provides half of the salary and benefits to hire new school counselors or licensed mental health professionals for three years. Districts are responsible for the remaining costs.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every district that applied was awarded the full amount they requested, said Annette Price, a spokeswoman for the State Department of Education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly $35.7 million in federal pandemic relief funds were awarded to 186 districts, including six charter schools and a cooperative of districts in and around Osage County that will fund positions in six districts. More than 300 new school counselors, social workers, licensed mental health professionals and recreational therapists were funded through the initiative, which was announced days after an Oklahoma Watch <\/em>investigation<\/em><\/a> found that schools are often the only resource for rural students in crises.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These new positions will improve Oklahoma\u2019s counselor-to-student ratio. Students at schools with the American School Counselor Association\u2019s recommendation of one counselor per 250 students tend to miss less school and have higher test scores, according to research<\/a>. Oklahoma currently has an average of one counselor per 411 students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. Department of Education touted Oklahoma’s Counselor Corps initiative in an announcement<\/a> last month praising the use of funds for mental health support. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona highlighted the program on Twitter<\/a> as one of six “amazing examples” of states addressing student needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The grant, however, leaves rural districts at a disadvantage, according to Matthews and her eastern Oklahoma counterparts in Peggs, Lowery and Shady Grove.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

None of those districts had a school counselor on staff during the 2020-21 school year. Yet only one applied for the grant, despite heightened mental health challenges brought on by the pandemic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need a counselor on site who can help our kids deal with things like when a parent dies or loses a job,\u201d Matthews said. \u201cBut that\u2019s just not an easy thing to do in smaller districts like ours with limited resources.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Large Districts Capitalize on Grant<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Quanetta Broom, a school counselor at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in Oklahoma City, said it is easier to help kids learn how to cope if they can first understand what they’re feeling and why. (Whitney Bryen\/Oklahoma Watch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

More than 75% of Oklahoma\u2019s school districts have fewer than 1,000 students, according to state enrollment data<\/a>. And while they were all eligible, only one-third of those districts applied for the grants. More than half of the state\u2019s larger districts applied for and received funding. (See sortable table below)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tulsa Public Schools will also add 12 counselors, including six focused on college and careers and six mental health specialists starting this fall. Edmond Public Schools will add five elementary school counselors and three high school counselors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Epic Charter Schools, which is among the state\u2019s largest districts and one of the largest virtual charter schools in the nation, did not apply for the grant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lowrey Superintendent Cris Wyse said his district, located 20 miles northwest of Tahlequah, cannot afford to pay its share for even one school counselor despite receiving $715,000 from a federal emergency relief program<\/a>. He also said the application\u2019s two-week turnaround didn\u2019t leave enough time for staff to prepare the required information, which included student demographic information, a budget breakdown, a description of the new positions and how they would be evaluated. <\/p>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tRELATED <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"How\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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How Rural School Counselors Confront Life in a \u2018Mental Health Desert\u2019<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t

In many rural Oklahoma school districts, student mental health needs fall on overwhelmed, outnumbered school counselors.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\tAvatar photo<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby<\/span> Whitney Bryen<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

This concern is heightened for districts in what state education officials call mental health deserts<\/a>, pockets of eastern and western Oklahoma where there are as few as one mental health provider per 150,000 people.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Re-Emphasizing the Role of School Counselor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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A second grader at Cesar Chavez Elementary School in Oklahoma City listens to a lesson about kindness during a summer program on June 16, 2021. (Whitney Bryen\/Oklahoma Watch)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While licensed counselors are in short supply, there is an abundance of certified school counselors, which have different training and requirements from licensed mental health providers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oklahoma has more than 700 certified school counselors currently working as teachers, according to unpublished research conducted by the Oklahoma Educator Supply and Demand Network state education officials said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Joy Hofmeister said over the past decade these counselors were asked to move into the classroom amid Oklahoma\u2019s teacher shortage. Now, the state will again look to these counselors to meet student needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs we are seeing more teachers coming into schools, then we are able to replace them with another teacher and pull that licensed professional counselor or our credentialed school counselor back into the role,\u201d Hofmeister said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hofmeister said the grant protects counselors from being used as a \u201ccatchall in the administrative office.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

School counselor duties often include test proctoring, lunch or recess duty, data entry and other tasks that do not require counseling credentials. The grant<\/a> refers districts to American School Counselor Association guidelines<\/a> for appropriate and inappropriate duties, and mandates that the counselors work \u201conly in roles that reflect their professional expertise.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\t\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\tTHE LATEST<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Audio\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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Audio Stories: December 29, 2025<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t

Here is the audio of Oklahoma Watch’s published stories for the week of December 29, 2025. – Full Week Playlist: Listen to all the stories back-to-back, without interruption. – Individual Stories: Select and play any story you’d like to hear, at your convenience. Full Week Playlist: Individual Stories: Fact Briefs: Oklahoma Watch Is Looking for\u2026<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby<\/span> Oklahoma Watch<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Oklahoma\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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Oklahoma Health Department Refuses to Share County-Level Measles Data<\/a><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t

Oklahoma\u2019s refusal to share county-level measles data during outbreaks has sparked concerns from health experts, including Dr. George Monks, who argues the data is crucial for public safety. The state’s stance contrasts with how it handles other diseases like West Nile.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\tAvatar photo<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby<\/span> Paul Monies<\/a><\/span>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t