2022 School Counselor and School-Based Mental Health Provider Use of Time Report
KRS 158.4416, (3)(e) requires that school counselor and school-based mental health providers’ use of time, activities, position held, funding, placement in the district and certification held be reported annually by superintendents. The following includes the 2022 highlights from the statewide reports that were submitted from 100% of Kentucky’s districts.
School Counselor Use of Time Highlights:
- 73% of funding for school counselors comes from local resources, with 16% coming from state funds.
- 72% of school counselor activities served in “appropriate” ways, with 28% of time spent on “inappropriate” activities.
- The most reported “inappropriate” activities school counselors have include building a master schedule, chairing special education and 504 meetings, supervising common areas, maintaining records and serving as the building assessment coordinator.
Kentucky’s recommendations on the percentage of time counselors should be using for “direct” student services – based upon KRS 158.4416 – is 60%. Only 49% of time was reported by school counselors in direct services for students, including large group instruction, small group and individual counseling. The remainder of the school counselors’ time is spent on “indirect” services, which includes meetings held on behalf of students, and “other” services such as data analysis, program planning or school functioning tasks.
Anecdotally, student feedback indicated access to school counselors is minimal. Many students are waiting weeks to months before seeing a school counselor. Students have recommended school counselors being assigned roles that would allow them to have more direct services to see students individually, within a small group or large group.
In addition to the student feedback, the School Security Marshal Report showed a school counselor is employed in 93% of Kentucky schools, with 56% of the counselors not being able to meet the Kentucky recommended student to counselor ratio of 1:250. Currently, the average ratio is 1 school counselor to 348 students.
Next steps:
- Consider allocations for school counselors and school-based mental health providers to allow student access to these professionals.
- Examine the role of the school counselor and the assigned tasks to determine their time with students versus time spent on “inappropriate” tasks based on collaborative conversations between school counselors and stakeholders.
- Consider supports the district may need in order to continue growth toward meeting student needs based on school counselor recommendations from Kentucky.
School-Based Mental Health Provider Use of Time Highlights:
School-based mental health providers include school psychologists, school-based mental health therapists and social workers. Most of the survey participants selected Other Qualified Mental Health Providers, indicating they had a degree or certification in counseling, psychology or social work.
School-based mental health service providers may serve one or many schools, depending on the number of students within a school building and the district’s resources. In this survey, 65% of school-based mental health service providers reported that they spent their time at one building and 35% worked with multiple sites.
For the tasks assigned to the mental health providers, this report found:
- 31% of their time is spent in direct services by individually counseling students, with 14% of time spent consulting with stakeholders for student needs at all building levels as an indirect service.
- Minimal time (between 2% and 8%) was spent on other tasks, including assisting in crisis situations, creating behavior intervention plans, collaborating with school counselors, coordinating small group counseling, referral to resources for families, teaching large group classes and training families and/or staff.
- School social workers and psychologists spent more time consulting on behalf of students, whereas “other qualified school-based mental health providers” spent the most time individually counseling students.
- School social workers spent more time than the other providers referring resources to families and school psychologists spent more time serving on school-based teams than other providers.
Next steps:
- Examine the role of the school-based mental health providers, including state and national recommendations for their ratio of provider to students and appropriate activities they are assigned daily.
- Determine if the collaboration between the school-based mental health providers and school counselors enhances services for all students, including access to the school-based mental providers for students.
- Consider if the training and funding matches the role of the school-based mental health provider.
National Say Something Week
March 13-17 is national Say Something Week. It celebrates the importance of trusted adults and upstanders in our communities.
School and youth organizations participate nationwide in Say Something Week to ensure our students are encouraged to say something if they see something, promoting safety for ALL students. To celebrate this important week, Say Something national resources and materials may be used, as well as resources from the Kentucky Center for School Safety.
2023-2024 Early Graduation Program Updates: New Implementation Timeline and FAQ Now Available
KRS 158.142 establishes the Early Graduation Program (EGP). This optional program is for students in grades 9, 10 and 11 who are interested in completing specific program requirements, in three academic years or less, in order to receive a high school diploma, Early Graduation Certificate and scholarship award from the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority.
Beginning in the 2023-2024 academic year, students wishing to participate in the program must meet newly established requirements provided in 704 KAR 3:305, Section 5. Local districts must provide a policy addressing the unique needs of EGP students by July 1, 2023, so that schools may successfully support students in meeting the new requirements by the start of the 2023-2024 academic year.
To assist schools and districts, the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has developed the Early Graduation Program Implementation Guidance 2023-2024, detailing expectations on how to best support students in successfully meeting the new requirements of the program. An EGP frequently asked questions (FAQ) document detailing the roles and expectations of schools and districts can be found on KDE's Early Graduation Program webpage. Supplemental tools and resources will be released in Spring 2023.
For additional information related to the EGP policy changes provided in 704 KAR 3:305, contact policy advisor, Sarah Peace
For additional support for schools and districts in implementing the EGP, contact Comprehensive School Counseling Coordinator Heather Bushelman.
Individual Learning Plan Updates
The Individual Learning Plan (ILP) has been updated to include new resources, activities and best practices.
Highlights include a new elementary ILP playbook with activities for college and career readiness. The middle school ILP playbook and high school ILP playbook have updated activities, as well as sample quarterly and annual timelines of completion for each grade level.
A visual showing ILP stakeholder talking points has been created to help ILP coordinators discuss the purpose and importance of the ILP with students, staff and families. Finally, beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, the development of the individual learning plan for each student shall be established within the first 90 days of the 6th-grade year and shall be focused on career exploration and related to postsecondary education and training needs, as mandated by 704 KAR 3305.
All resources may be found the Kentucky Department of Education Individual Learning Plan website.
Shout Outs!
 Clark County (@ccps_news) school counselors collaborated to build college and career readiness implementation for grades K-12. The Individual Learning Plan updates were shared and the American School Counselor Association student mindset and behavior objectives searchable database also helped to create ideas for delivering direct services to students.
Administrators from the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative and the Southeast South-Central Educational Cooperative attended a training focused on utilizing their school counselors and school-based mental health providers effectively. This training also was shared in Louisville at the Kentucky School Board Association (@ksbanews) annual conference to ensure all stakeholders have an understanding of Kentucky recommended best practices for school counselors and school-based mental health providers in order to serve students best.
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