District Staffing Case Study

Dr. Kamerzell presented the administrative proposal for the FY 2019 Maintenance and Operations (M&O) budget. This budget recommendation maintains all student programs and services at their current level as well as the district staffing formula that defines the student-to-teacher ratio in district schools. There was also a proposed new budget allocation to increase the district’s elementary counselor staffing by 2.0 FTE positions. The proposal originates from the district’s K-12 counseling program review. The budget proposal also included increasing the M & O to support an increase to employee compensation, and begin to replenish the district insurance fund. Dr. Kamerzell also reported on the district’s 10-year enrollment history. This year there was an increase in resident enrollment, fifty-eight and a half percent (58.5%) of district students live within the boundaries of the school district, and forty-one and a half percent (41.5%) attend district schools through Arizona’s open Enrollment Program. …show more content…
Conery presented background information on the current review process of the district K-12 counseling program. The team used the “American School Counselor Association National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs” to check the district counseling program. She reported that the role of a school counselor is on direct and indirect services to students. The American School Counselor Association recommends a student-to-school counselor ratio of 250:1. This ratio can vary across states and school districts, Arizona’s average is 924:1, which is the highest in the nation. Dr. Conery reviewed the district’s current student-to-school counselor ratios. The team is requesting early consideration to hire 2.0 elementary counselors for the 2018-2019 school year. This will enable the district to interview and hire high quality counselors from a larger pool of available e