Boston council panel probes BPS counselor shortages and post-ESSER mental health funding gaps

BOSTON -- October 3, 2024, Boston City Council panel hears that only three of 25 K-8 schools in the city have licensed school counselors. The Committee on Education, chaired by Councilor At Large Henry Santana and convened at the request of lead sponsor Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, took testimony from practitioners and Harvard Graduate School of Education professor Mandy Savitz-Romer, who told councilors BPS remains "stuck in an outdated model of guidance counseling" for lack of systemic investment. Dr. Ted Lombardi, Secondary Superintendent for College, Career, and Life Readiness, said the district's high school counselor-to-student ratio averages 160 to 1, below the national recommended ceiling of 250 to 1, but acknowledged the union contract sets that figure as a district-wide average, not a per-school floor. Virtual testifier Dan Goldsberry, a counselor at the newly renamed Ruth Batson Academy in Dorchester, cited Boston Teachers Union data showing more than 10,000 students in K-8 schools are without a counselor. Councilors Murphy, Louijeune, and Mejia each framed the session as preparation for the upcoming budget cycle, with Louijeune flagging a same-day WGBH report that mental health supports for BPS students have shrunk even as needs remain high following the expiration of $454 million in federal ESSER funds.