The Sweetwater Union High School District in Chula Vista has a long history of making counselors a top priority. Each counselor works with fewer than 430 students, making it one of the lowest student-counselor ratios in the state. Because of the lower ratios, counselors at some schools have time to run support groups, said Lynn Covarrubias, a Sweetwater district psychologist who trains counselors. In periodic meetings to talk about family issues such as divorce, counselors establish a rapport with students that may help prevent crises. Most agree that lower ratios alone will not work.
Schools have to deploy their counselors efficiently, too.
When I went into this business 25 years ago I would not have believed the kinds of situations I would be dealing with.