To The Editor:
School Counselors
Serve Many Roles
Your April 4 front page story titled “Four Vie for Three Seats in Low Key School Campaign,” about the proposed West Windsor-Plainsboro school district budget contained a comment by one West Windsor resident that was disheartening to school guidance counselors. The resident expressed disapproval that taxpayers should subsidize another guidance counselor’s salary because “college applications are the responsibility of the student and the family.” ##M:[more]##
It is disappointing, to say the least, that there might be a public perception that the role of a school guidance counselor is limited to helping students with their college applications. This quote by a West Windsor resident points to a lack of public knowledge regarding the many functions of a guidance counselor, also known as a “school counselor,” in our schools.
The proposal for the school budget doesn’t specify which grade, or grades, the additional counselor would serve. It is true that the primary duties of a grade 12 guidance counselor, or a designated “college counselor,” are college-related. However, even college counselors regularly find that their time is being taken up with a multitude of other concerns and responsibilities that don’t have anything to do with college that hour, or that day.
Ninth, tenth, and eleventh grade school counselors, not to mention elementary and middle school counselors, do not typically spend the majority of their time on college and career counseling. In addition to programming and schedule management, counselors are involved in crisis management and intervention, conduct ongoing individual, group, and family counseling (wherein the focus can be on any number of issues such as confidence-building, grief and bereavement counseling, coping skills, anger management, healthy and effective communication, character building, etc.), serve as liaisons with counseling and other community agencies, which includes referrals and follow up, handle conflict resolution involving student-to-student and/or student-to-teacher situations, and perform endless variations of administrative duties.
That is only a sampling of an average week in the life of a school counselor. These are examples of issues that come up in a school and must be attended to, often immediately. School counselors are there for when things happen — which they always do. It is impractical, and often impossible, for a principal, administrator, or teacher to drop everything and have hours out of their day consumed with a student or family crisis, or a situation that cannot wait.
In this line of work, when critical, high-stakes emotional issues in the lives of students and families are being dealt with, corners cannot be cut. Shortcuts cannot be taken. School counselors are trained to address the whole child, which includes behind-the-scenes dynamics that aren’t seen in a classroom and are not visible on a transcript, but are very real and very powerful factors in the life of a child. These are issues that can impact a student’s entire life and future. School counselors are placed in our schools to watch over and attend to all aspects of our children.
Most people who know what goes on in schools agree that the caseloads of school counselors are far greater nowadays than they should be. Additional counselors, at every level of education, would ensure that each child gets the attention and services they need, and deserve, from their school counselor. It is a credit to the West Windsor-Plainsboro school board, and a benefit to the students, that another counselor will be brought in to High School North.
Rita Joshi
Plainsboro
Editor’s note: The writer is a guidance counselor at a high school in the New York metropolitan area.
Rethink Pay Hike
I am writing to express my extreme discomfort with West Windsor Councilman Will Anklowitz’s recent suggestion that he, the rest of Council, and Mayor Hsueh receive a 100 percent pay increase.
According to news accounts, Mr. Anklowitz justifies the request in order to “break even” on costs he has incurred “on such expenses as cell phone charges, car usage, donations to charities and postage since joining the body in November 2006.”
I would suggest that Mr. Anklowtiz actually perform a useful function on Council and sit a bit longer before asking for a 100 percent pay increase (To Mayor Hsueh’s and Ms. Geever’s credit, they said they would not accept the raise if granted.). Perhaps tackling the seemingly simple issues of illegal signage and leaf collection, and West Windsor Arts Council parking, which have been floundering before Council for years, might be a good starting point.
Looking at the state of the economy in New Jersey, the fact that people are losing their jobs, the growing mortgage crisis, and the ever increasing amount of money West Windsor is throwing out the window pursuing the dream of a Transit Village, it would be prudent to rethink granting yourself a 100 percent pay raise. The residents of West Windsor who struggle with ever increasing tax burdens, perhaps losing the main income earner in the household, the elderly who struggle with day to day expenses, and the younger residents who struggle to even afford to live in the Township would appreciate Mr. Anlkowitz giving this proposal a second thought.
As a lawyer, Mr. Anklowitz — I am sure — did his due diligence and knew the salary of the position of Councilperson to which he was elected. Perhaps he might have given more thought to the expenditures he was going to incur, but that burden should most definitely not be placed back on the residents of West Windsor.
Personal options abound: Choosing a different cell phone plan, donating less to charities (I did not know donations to charities were a recoverable expense for an elected official), and perhaps submitting the gasoline and postage expenses directly to the Township for reimbursement might be less expensive alternatives considering the current economic climate.
Michael Ranallo
15 Cornwall Avenue, Trenton
Let’s Rescind
Mayor-Council
How long have I been saying this mayor-council stuff doesn’t work? You cannot prove that it does. Eliminate the waste. Avoid the duplicate costs of special springtime “non-partisan” elections. We can hold a change in government vote in November during the Presidential general election on Tuesday, November. Will you help? Let’s find some decision-makers with common sense. Rescind mayor-council; get back township committee by avoiding an extra layer of indecision.
Knock, knock:
(1). There is a housing glut.
(2). There is a commercial property glut.
(3). There is a retail glut.
(4). There is a waste of resources in limited supply.
(5). Make sure the school board shares with the community its 3-year wage, health, and benefit increases with voters PRIOR to the vote on April 15th.
How can you approve the unknown and then listen to the excuses of “increased wage and benefit costs due to contractual agreements beyond our control?”
The school board makes those contractual agreemnts, which ar emost certainly under their control. You cannot break the property tax spiral within the State of New Jersey until you take control. How about a “modest decrease” in spending in lieu of a “modest increase?”
We can do better. If you can’t, you are part of the problem. You can be a part of the solution. Ignorance is expensive.
Peter R. Weale
144 Fisher Place
Editor’s note: A majority of Weale’s West Windsor neighbors voted no on the school budget. See story, page 17.
Field Turf Concerns
In response to reports that the state department of health had found unacceptable levels of lead in certain artificial playing fields, the WW-P School District referred residents to the following statement posted on its website by the makers of the fields used in WW-P:
The Department of Health and Senior Services stated that “high levels of lead” were found in the nylon turf fibers — old style, carpet-like fibers that are not remotely similar to FieldTurf’s fibers. FieldTurf has never used nylon fibers. These tests confirm yet again that FieldTurf fields are safe for the players and the environment.
“The safety of athletes and communities is, and always has been, the number one priority at FieldTurf,” said FieldTurf Tarkett CEO Joe Fields. “Our commitment to the environment ensures that our products are constantly being tested to ensure safety. The FieldTurf system has worked wonders for organizations all over the world as a product that reduces water consumption and pollution caused by chemical use, while increasing playing time, reducing injuries and promoting a healthy lifestyle.”
‘Rousing’ Book Sale
The Friends of the West Windsor Branch of the Mercer County Library wish to thank the community for its generous support of our annual book sale. We also want to thank our many volunteers who helped make this sale a rousing success.
The annual book sale is the Friends’ only fundraiser. Proceeds from the sale are used to support special community events held at the library, fund the library’s children’s programs, expand the library’s collection, as well as support other projects and purchases not funded by the Mercer County Library System budget.
The library accepts donations of new and gently used books and audiovisual materials year round. Some of the donations are put into circulation while others are sorted and held for sale. Please bring your donations to the front desk. We hope to see you at next year’s sale!
Janis Abraham
Patricia Huie
Sylvia Russo
Chairs, 2008 Book Sale
The fibers in the FieldTurf system, installed on more than 200 fields in the Garden State and over 2500 fields worldwide, have a positive impact on the environment because FieldTurf uses only environmentally friendly components.
The installation of FieldTurf eliminates the use of harmful pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides and fungicides, while at the same time removes thousands of tires from landfill sites. FieldTurf requires no mowing, fertilizing, reseeding or watering. FieldTurf helps organizations earn the necessary points needed for U.S. Green Building Council LEED certification. FieldTurf’s reused rubber content and water use reduction, among other factors, can contribute up to 10 points towards LEED certification.
