In light of substantial budget cuts, the school is attempting to keep the number of jobs low by increasing the responsibilities that fall under the job title of Lead Counselor for Guidance.
Instead of replacing the roles of Jacqueline Browne, who currently holds the position and who will retire in December, and former Career Center Coordinator Janet Gottesman, who retired last year, the school is creating a new position to combine the roles.
“This is all about the budget cuts, because normally if someone retired, they would be replaced,” Browne said. “But, rather than firing somebody, there was an opportunity for them to save money by not hiring an extra counselor, so therefore our caseloads go up. So, our biggest concern is that the level of service will be impacted by the increase, and that’s directly related to the budget.”
According to Dean Diane Lande, the person who will replace Browne will be the Director of College and Career Counseling and will also take on many of the responsibilities of Gottesman, who retired last year.
Restructuring in light of budget cuts is not new to the Pupil Support Services Department.
Browne’s position has changed in the past few years. Until two years ago, she was the Coordinator of Pupil Support Services; she did not have a caseload of students. Instead, she had the power to hire, fire and evaluate guidance counselors in addition to her administrative duties.
Two years ago, that position was eliminated and Browne became the Lead Counselor of Guidance, the position created in its stead. With this role, Browne has half a caseload to counsel – roughly 95 students. She is no longer responsible for evaluating, hiring or firing counselors, but retains the administrative duties.
Under the new plan, Browne’s formers and current responsibilities and those of the Career Center Coordinator will be fused into the Director of College and Career Counseling’s job.
Lande said the new Director of College and Career Counseling position will be “designed to do a lot of the guidance work but also focus more on the college career exploration that occurs in high school, so that kids will be well-placed when they leave here.”
“I don’t know how things are going to look with the new director,” Browne said. “I don’t think it will decrease caseloads at all, but hopefully there will be more coordination with the Career Center and colleges.”
Counselors are feeling the strain of a system that continues to pile increasing demands on their time and energy. If, after Browne’s departure, no permanent replacement is found, she said the school will hire an interim Director of College and Career Counseling.
Sabina Lee, Clara Dorfman and Tasoula Burk can be contacted at [email protected].
