By Mattie Quinn, July 2019, Governing
Janine Menard is moving quickly through her busy day. On a Monday morning at Pueblo del Sol Elementary, a dual elementary and middle school in West Phoenix, she visits a fourth-grade classroom that’s getting a lesson in understanding “different perspectives.” Menard, the school counselor, goes over scenarios aimed at tapping into the children’s empathetic side. They discuss ways to bridge gaps in understanding using emotional intelligence.
An hour later, Menard heads upstairs to a room of seventh-graders to teach them about sexual harassment. They go over the difference between sexual harassment and rape, and learn that sending or posting unsolicited photos on social media counts as sexual harassment. Menard asks them about behaviors they see around school -- like boys who grab girls in the hall, or kids teasing someone for their sexual orientation.
After those two lessons, it’s back to her office, where she meets with students for the rest of the day. Her docket today includes two refugee girls who’ve been subjected to merciless taunts and a girl who’s been “acting out” in class for reasons unknown.
As the sole full-time counselor for Pueblo del Sol Elementary, Menard, who is also the chair of the Arizona School Counselors Association, has a caseload of 1,100 kids. The school is overwhelmingly Hispanic and low-income, with test scores falling far below state averages. Domestic violence, absentee parents and drug use run rampant in many of the students’ homes. Many kids come to school loaded with trauma. “This area just really eats up these kids,” Menard says between counseling sessions.
The mental health needs at Pueblo del Sol and all around the state are significant, but Arizona public schools are woefully unequipped to handle them. The statewide ratio of students to school counselors is 905 to 1, according to the latest numbers from the American School Counselor Association. It’s the highest ratio in the country by a long shot. Michigan, the state with the second-highest ratio, has 741 students for every one counselor. The national average is 455 to 1.
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