Current Events > After A Tumultuous Year, NYC Schools Poised To Lose Mental Health Counselors

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https://gothamist.com/news/after-tumultuous-year-nyc-schools-poised-lose-mental-health-counselors

It has been a particularly painful few months for the Bronx Academy of Letters, a 6-12 school that enrolls students from neighborhoods devastated by the coronavirus. Four students parents died; others had grandparents, aunts, and uncles who got sick or died as well. Many parents lost their jobs, making some students the main wage earners for their families. Then the school principal died suddenly earlier this month. After months of loss, the school is now poised to lose five of its eight mental-health counselors due to budget cuts to a program called Single Shepherd. Its the last thing school leaders think should happen. To take them out of the school right now, thats going to be traumatic, said David Garcia-Rosen, director of school culture at Bronx Academy of Letters. Senior Queen Nyra Neter said her counselor, Gabrina Pearson, got her through the year to graduation. I was ready to just give up, she said, adding that Pearson helped her with schedules, spreadsheets, and calls, ultimately getting her back on track. Im really thankful for her.

Facing a massive revenue shortfall, Mayor Bill de Blasio has proposed cutting $641 million from the Department of Education for the next fiscal year, including for the Single Shepherd initiative. Kenyatte Reid, executive director of the Office of Safety and Youth Development, said the DOE has made mental health a top priority during the pandemic, re-training school-crisis teams on trauma, and holding hundreds of weekly sessions to offer educators emotional support. You know when youre on an airplane and they tell you to put on your oxygen mask first before assisting others? he said. Its based on [that] premise. But students and advocates said there remains a wide gap between their mental-health needs and the support theyre receiving. The citywide ratio of counselors and social workers to students is 217 to 1. According to Chalkbeat, this summer there will be over one thousand students per counselor.

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There is gonna be a lot more suicides if they do this.

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