OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- Shawnee Mission School District parents are asking the school board to put counselors in every school by fall 2018.
At a regular school board meeting on Monday, several parents shared why they think this is so important.
“My story is about my nine-year-old little girl Lila who is in the 3rd grade, and up until a few months ago loved going to school. Her love of school changed because she became caught in a mean girl situation with another student.”
“If there had been a counselor, there would have been someone with adequate training to coach the staff on how to have age-appropriate conversations with students about death and grief. Instead, my grieving children had to field questions from their peers about their sister’s death.”
“I can provide most of her basic needs, but I cannot provide for her emotional needs at school when she’s a target of social bullying.”
“I have another perspective. I am the mother of the child that frequently disrupts the classroom. This is so stressful on me as a parent. I don’t want my child to take away from the other kids learning and this impacts my son, his teacher, but really equally the other kids in the classroom.”
“Indian Hills has two counselors to serve 840 students. At Corinth, we have a social worker one day a week. That is the extent of the social and emotional support our children have in the building.”
“As a parent of a child in crisis, you cling to these resources and count these services and staff as one of your greatest blessings.”
The Corinth Elementary School PTA is suggesting diverting the money they raise from the Spanish program to a counselor. Parents also highlighted that neighboring districts like Olathe and Blue Valley have counselors at every school.
No action was taken at the meeting.
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