At the start of the school year, multiple Berkeley High School students were surprised to find a completely different counselor on their schedule than the one they had in previous years. This change seemed sudden, as there was a lack of advance communication to students about the counselor changes. This adjustment may have added confusion amongst the chaotic flurry of schedule changes during the first few weeks of school. Particularly for seniors, it raised questions and frustrations about college recommendation letters. Students who may have spent their first two or three years at school building a relationship with their assigned counselors may now worry about being set back in the letter writing process, since they'd have less time to develop a relationship with the new counselor writing it for them.
During times of uncertainty, a lot of blame tends to get thrown around, but the reality is that the fault lies not within our school, but within the larger financial system. These changes were not the fault of the counseling department, nor the BHS administration. In fact, a new budget took into effect this year, causing one of the BHS counseling positions to be dissolved, and therefore requiring counselors to rearrange their student caseloads.
"We had to think of creative ways, essentially, to try to have an equitable caseload so that we can all do a good job serving our students," BHS counselor Nick Wortham said. What may have seemed like an idle change to the larger student body was the result of a series of shifts within the counseling department, allowing counselors to retain a balanced caseload without sacrificing the level of support provided to each student. In fact, many counselors now have smaller caseloads, which can make it significantly easier to build a close relationship.
For many, the last minute notice of the change was the most displeasing part of the situation, rather than the change itself. However, this too was the product of a much larger picture behind the scenes. “Especially with the way that BUSD's budget was last year, a lot of us didn't know if we had jobs or not until the very end of the year,” Wortham said, “there were a lot of things we just didn't know until May.”
Last year, Berkeley Unified School District had to balance a $7.6 million budget deficit, which resulted in many BUSD staff and teachers receiving layoff notices in March. Although most of the notices — around 150 in all, according to a Berkeleyside article — were later rescinded, it led to job insecurity for many BUSD employees. Adequate state and federal funding is essential to maintain the support of teachers, counselors, and other resources that students need during high school.
As a senior, it may have been concerning to face a sudden change in the midst of the college application process. However, all of the counselors are connected to each other, so there continues to be an active line of communication between them. “We work really collaboratively, across this hallway, and in general," Wortham said.
Counselors want to get to know you and help you get into college, no matter if they've only had you for just a few months. It is important to make yourself known, visit the counseling office in the D Building, and introduce yourself to your counselor if you haven't already.