For many eighth graders, the transition to Brookline High School is daunting. Students are entering a school with hundreds of courses, thousands of students and a multi-building campus.<\/p>\n
Ryan McManus, a middle school science teacher at the Driscoll School, said eighth graders preparing for high school are often stressed and overwhelmed \u2014\u00a0but a middle school guidance counselor helps soothe their nerves, he said.<\/p>\n
At Driscoll, that\u2019s Jacqueline Lavigne. She organizes a trip to BHS and meets one-on-one with eighth graders to help them select courses and develop a schedule.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey walk out saying how much better they feel,\u201d McManus said.<\/p>\n
Next school year, Lavigne\u2019s position will be gone. It was one of about 20 eliminated<\/a> across the district in an attempt to close a multimillion dollar budget gap ahead of fiscal year 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n Teachers and mental health professionals at Driscoll say the change will be challenging for the school, increasing caseloads for the remaining two counselors and leaving many students\u2019 needs unmet until they reach crisis level.<\/p>\n The cut will also impact teachers, who worry they will be called on more often and have less support helping students navigate interpersonal relationships and personal issues, fifth grade teacher Laura Zientek said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn order to be available to learn, kids need to be present emotionally, and if they\u2019re feeling really upset about something that\u2019s going on with a friend or at home, it\u2019s hard for them,\u201d Zientek said. \u201cIt becomes my responsibility to help them with that conflict, which takes time from other things that we\u2019re trying to do. There are only so many hours in a school day.\u201d<\/p>\n Lavigne, the counselor, declined an interview with Brookline.News.<\/p>\n In K-8 schools across Brookline, a combined 21 guidance counselors work with specific student cohorts, according to the district\u2019s website<\/a>. School adjustment counselors, school psychologists, principals and vice principals are also part of each school\u2019s team of clinicians.<\/p>\n Guidance counselors work with individual students and help manage crises, but they take on a range of other responsibilities, from teaching social-emotional skills such as conflict resolution and stress management to organizing standardized testing and working on class schedules.\u00a0<\/p>\n The removal of the Driscoll guidance counselor position follows the removal of a middle school vice principal at the school last year, which the School Committee approved during a similar<\/a> budget vote.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s these positions that are dedicated to middle school that we feel like we keep losing,\u201d McManus said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard because it\u2019s less people in the building \u2026 some of the smaller things might be harder to catch.\u201d<\/p>\n When fully staffed, Driscoll\u2019s team of school clinicians works proactively to meet the needs of its 554 students<\/a>, Marissa Sloane, a school psychologist at the school, told Brookline.News.<\/p>\n The American School Counselor Association recommends<\/a> a ratio of 250 students per school counselor. At Driscoll, the student-to-counselor ratio is 184-to-1 \u2014\u00a0but with only two counselors next school year, it will jump to more than 270-to-1. It will be the second-highest student-to-counselor ratio in the district, behind the Florida Ruffin Ridley School.<\/p>\n Student and counselor populations at Brookline\u2019s K-8 schools during the 2025-26 school year<\/p>\n *School populations from DESE<\/a>, counselor data from district\u2019s website<\/a><\/p>\n K-8 schoolStudentsCounselorsStudents per counselorBaker6633221FRR8723290Runkle4762238Lawrence6243208Driscoll5543184Pierce5873196Hayes4232212Lincoln4632232<\/p>\n This gives everyone less time for proactive work, Sloane said, and lands more students in crisis.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll be very much disjointed and changed and against what most people who work in social-emotional learning would say is best practice,\u201d said Sloane, who has worked as a school psychologist for the past 11 years.<\/p>\n Teachers and mental health professionals also noted that early teenage years are typically a period of intense change, and having someone to work directly with middle schoolers is crucial.<\/p>\n Hannah Goldberg, the guidance counselor for third through fifth grades at Driscoll, said time-consuming responsibilities such as high school planning will now fall on other counselors. She added that middle schoolers have specific mental health needs and are typically at a higher risk of self-harm<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hard to put that into words because right now kids see us all the time. They see us and say, \u2018Can I check in later?\u2019 and we can just do that,\u201d said Goldberg, who has been a counselor at Driscoll for seven years. \u201cStudents won\u2019t get that when we do go down to two counselors.\u201d<\/p>\n More cuts<\/a> are likely on the horizon for Brookline\u2019s schools as budget pressure remains and a May override<\/a> vote approaches.\u00a0<\/p>\n Erica Sullivan, a second grade teacher at Driscoll, said the middle school guidance counselor cut will reduce the school\u2019s student mental health response to crisis management and leave teachers without much-needed feedback on how to support their students.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all understand that we\u2019re in a terrible financial situation, and cuts have to be made, and we also don\u2019t think this is feasible or right,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cThis is going to negatively impact the entire school.\u201d<\/p>\n Archer Shen, a seventh grader at the Driscoll School, gave a public comment at a Feb. 5 School Committee meeting in support of the middle school guidance counselor.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen important people leave, the new person has big shoes to fill. But you can\u2019t fill shoes when you\u2019re already in your own shoes, and I think this is the situation that the remaining guidance counselors will face,\u201d Shen said.<\/p>\n Representatives for the School Committee did not respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n \tWrite a Letter To The Editor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For many eighth graders, the transition to Brookline High School is daunting. 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