VA Understaffs Positions Critical to Student Safety
Media Contacts
Patrick Getlein
Senior Vice President
The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis
patrick@thecommonwealthinstitute.org
804-396-2051 x103
Rachael Deane
Legal Director, JustChildren Program
Legal Aid Justice Center
rachael@justice4all.org
804-521-7304
Virginia Understaffs Positions Critical to Student Safety While Student Enrollment Grows
RICHMOND, VA, August 20, 2018 — Staffing in Virginia’s K-12 schools falls far short of recommended benchmarks for school counselors, social workers, psychologists, and nurses, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis and the Legal Aid Justice Center. Decreases in staffing and a growing student population have left counselors, social workers, psychologists, and nurses with increased caseloads and administrative responsibilities and less time for direct student support.
The report notes that student enrollment in Virginia’s schools has grown by more than 57,000
students since 2008, while overall school support staff positions decreased by 2,356 over the
same decade. School counselor caseloads increased nearly 30 percent — from 300 students in
2007-2008 to 385 students in 2015-2016. School counselors, social workers, psychologists, and
nurses play essential roles in meeting student mental health needs, keeping all students safe
and engaged, and helping students achieve academic and career success.
“These professionals provide vital services, including mental health care, and contribute to a
positive school climate in which all members of the school community feel safe,” said Rachael
Deane, Legal Director of the JustChildren Program at the Legal Aid Justice Center. “But a lack
of resources for these positions means we’re asking them to do more with less. Investing in
adequate staffing improves academic and health outcomes for all students.”
The report details the specialized services provided by school counselors, social workers,
psychologists, and nurses, including their important role in cultivating student safety. These
school professionals help to meet the mental health needs of students, connect students and
families with wraparound services, implement school-wide positive behavior support, reduce the
use of exclusionary discipline, and assist students with academic and career development.
“School counselors, social workers, psychologists, and nurses have an important impact on
student success. As their responsibilities increase that impact could increase as well,” says
Chris Duncombe, senior policy analyst with The Commonwealth Institute. “But only if schools
have sufficient staffing.”
The report recommends that Virginia lawmakers adopt proposals by the Virginia Board of
Education to amend Virginia’s Standards of Quality and establish higher staffing standards for
these positions. In 2017, the Virginia Board of Education recommended caseloads of one
school counselor for every 250 students, one school social worker for every 1,000 students, one
school psychologist for every 1,000 students, and one school nurse for every 550 students.
Read the report here.
The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis provides credible, independent, and accessible
information and analyses of fiscal and economic issues with particular attention to the impacts
on low- and moderate-income persons. Our products inform fiscal and budget policy debates
and contribute to sound decisions that improve the well-being of individuals, communities and
Virginia as a whole.
The Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC) fights injustice in the lives of individual Virginians while
rooting out exploitative policies and practices that keep people in poverty. LAJC uses impact
litigation, community organizing, and policy advocacy to solve urgent problems in areas
such as housing, education, civil rights, immigration, healthcare and consumer finance.
LAJC’s primary service areas are Charlottesville, Northern Virginia, Richmond and
Petersburg, but the effects of their work are felt statewide.
