Supporting Vermont’s School Counselors as Their Roles Expand

With student needs growing, Vermont schools and partners are taking action to ensure counselors can focus on what matters most—students.

On a rainy Friday afternoon in late spring, Cairsten Keese, a school counselor at U-32 Middle and High School in Montpelier, Vt., glances at the clock on her office wall. “In 15 minutes, the kids will be on their movement break, and I'll probably have 20 of them popping in to say hi, grab a mint, and head back to class,” she says, pointing to a bowl of mints and a stash of snacks on her desk for students who need a quick boost and a friendly check-in between classes. 

Keese was inspired to become a school counselor by the influence of her own high school counselor. “I think I was the kind of kid who could have easily fallen through the cracks,” she said. “But she really saw me for who I was and made a point to check in with me regularly. I remember thinking—wow, what she does is pretty cool.”

After completing her graduate degree in counseling in 2011, Keese worked as a high school counselor for 14 years before stepping into her current role at U-32 middle school last year. She is part of a team of four licensed counselors serving 690 students in grades 7–12. Together, they offer a wide range of support, from academic scheduling and post-graduation planning to urgent mental health care.

“Relationships are the foundation of our work,” Keese explained. “During my years as a high school counselor, I could teach careers and planning to kids, but if they didn’t feel like they had a relationship with me, I don't know how much of it would really land.” 

Of the 100 students she works with directly, she checks in weekly with about 20 percent of them—sometimes in scheduled meetings, other times more casually. “I call it the ‘HUG’—a hello, an update, and then a goodbye where I walk them back to class.”

She said it’s important for students to feel unconditionally supported. “For some kids, they might not have someone in their life who can see the mess—see everything that's going on, and just say, ‘It's okay. I'm here with you.’”

Meeting Students Where They Are

Chris Ford, a counselor at Williston Central School for grades 3–8, has 30 years of experience in the field. Like Keese, he emphasized the importance of building relationships with students. While high-school counselors are highly focused on academic and career planning, Ford’s work centers around helping students manage social-emotional challenges during what is often a turbulent time of growth.

“Middle-schoolers are dealing with a lot of changes—mentally, physically, socially,” he said. “I enjoy helping them work through the barriers they're facing as they figure out who they're going to become.” 

Along with crisis support, middle-school counselors teach important life skills, like building healthy relationships and staying safe—in a world that can feel uncertain and hard to keep up with.

“More and more students are navigating complex situations, like family changes, social dynamics, anxiety, or adjusting to a new diagnosis,” he said. Not all students have support systems or skills in place to manage these challenges on their own, he explained, so schools are stepping in to help. “We're all working together as a team here—teachers, administrators, and school counselors.” 

Ford and his two colleagues support about 700 students, with each counselor responsible for roughly 230 kids. For students in crisis, that ongoing connection is crucial. “I need to have touch points throughout the week to check in on their mental health and make sure they're staying positive and meeting their personal and academic goals,” he said.

Fortunately, stigma around seeking mental health support has lessened in recent years. Ford said students are now more likely to self-refer. “A lot of kids are hurting, and they're saying, ‘I need help.’ Some want to meet one-on-one, others prefer a group setting. Middle school students are very open with their challenges—and they love having their peers around.”

The Changing Role of the School Counselor

The kind of relationship-building Keese and Ford describe is now central to the work of school counselors—but that wasn’t always the case. When the profession emerged in the early 1900s, it focused primarily on vocational guidance. But gone are the days of the bi-annual “guidance counselor” meeting. The role has expanded over time to include year-round academic, social, and emotional support.

As responsibilities have grown, so have professional standards. Today’s counselors are highly trained mental health professionals who regularly support students’ academic, career, emotional, and social wellbeing. 

In Vermont, becoming a school counselor requires earning a master’s degree in school counseling or a related field, completing supervised fieldwork, and maintaining licensure through ongoing professional development. Since 2008, the Vermont School Counselor Association (VTSCA) has helped provide these growth opportunities by offering training, resources, and statewide peer-learning.

This support is critical as counselors’ roles continue to expand. Since the early 2010s, schools have become more aware of the increasing mental health challenges facing students, including anxiety, depression, and chronic stress. Experts attribute these trends to a mix of academic and social pressures, intensified by the influence of technology and social media. 

The Covid-19 pandemic brought renewed attention to youth mental health. In 2021, several major pediatric and psychiatric organizations declared a National State of Emergency in Children’s Mental Health—which inspired many communities to invest more seriously in youth well-being. 

Yet in Vermont, there is still work to be done. According to the 2023 Vermont Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 14 percent of students reported making a suicide plan in the past year and 23 percent said they had harmed themselves. These numbers highlight the importance of strong support systems that help young Vermonters feel safe, cared for, and engaged in their learning.

The encouraging news is that young Vermonters are reaching out for help. As they do, however, a statewide shortage of mental health providers—especially in rural areas—means schools often serve as a critical safety net, with counselors stepping in to provide essential support.

“There’s an increasing need for schools to address more social-emotional concerns than we've ever had,” said Ryan Heraty, superintendent of Lamoille South Supervisory Union. “Parents are relying on the schools more to help navigate various situations, which become increasingly complex when social media, phones, and technology are involved.”

When he began his current role in the summer of 2021, Heraty surveyed school administrators across the state about their biggest challenges. The top two, he said, were students’ social-emotional learning needs and increasing behavioral issues. 

“The data clearly shows that kids are struggling, and schools can't say, ‘We don't have availability,” or ‘There’s a waitlist.’ Schools have to respond—that’s why we need to strengthen the systems schools rely on to meet students’ needs.”

Heraty said schools are getting better at identifying students in need through frameworks like Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS), which help spot issues earlier. “School systems have a responsibility to identify and support students who are struggling,” he said. “And school counselors are a critical part of that process—working with families, connecting with outside partners, and helping plan next steps.”

A Measurable Impact

As school counselors take on these additional responsibilities, it’s clear that how their time is allocated by schools has a huge impact on their ability to make a difference. When counselors have a manageable caseload and fewer administrative duties, they can focus on the students who need them most—leading to better attendance, test scores, graduation rates, and behavior. 

According to the American School Counselors Association (ASCA), school counselors are most effective when they spend 80 percent of their time providing direct services to students, such as academic guidance, mental health support, and career planning, and just 20 percent on indirect work, like consulting with teachers and coordinating referrals. 

A recent survey by the Vermont School Counselor Association (VTSCA) found that school counselors in Vermont spend only 56 percent of their time directly supporting students—well below the ASCA’s recommended minimum. The rest of their time is often spent covering duties like lunch and recess supervision, state test coordination, and substitute teaching.

“The month of May is a perfect example,” said Lisa LaPlante, VTSCA board chair and director of student services at U-32. “If I hadn’t been able to hire a retired teacher to proctor Advanced Placement exams, I would have had counselors sitting in AP tests—spending four hours supervising the test administrations instead of supporting students.” 

These kinds of trade-offs are common in Vermont schools, where staffing shortages regularly pull counselors away from their core responsibilities. And in moments of crisis, that absence can leave students without the critical support they need.

Still, administrators across the state are finding ways to strengthen the counselor role. 

“We had one counselor who was serving 330 kids, and it just wasn't sustainable,” Heraty said. “So this year we added another one, and it has just been a game-changer for that school. Both counselors are busy, meeting with students all day long.”

Support for the Supporters

As demands on school counselors grow, so does the need for systems that sustain their work. The Vermont School Counselor Association (VTSCA), once run entirely by a volunteer board, began expanding its capacity in 2022 thanks to four years of funding from the McClure Foundation and the Vermont Community Foundation. The McClure Foundation—a supporting organization of the Vermont Community Foundation—invests in building systems that help young Vermonters access the guidance and resources they need to thrive in and beyond high school. 

Recognizing school counselors’ vital role in preparing students for college, career training, and the workforce, the two foundations made it possible for VTSCA to hire its first part-time executive director, Patti Tomashot, in 2023.

“Thanks to the McClure Foundation, we’ve been able to take the organization to the next level,” said Lisa LaPlante, VTSCA board chair and director of student services at U-32.

“We've been developing and coordinating webinars that are free to our members on a range of topics, from trauma-informed practices to how to use AI,” said Tomashot. In addition to training, VTSCA offers opportunities for counselors to connect with their colleagues across the state through a mentoring program, special interest groups, and an annual conference. In the works is a new initiative that will help schools evaluate and improve their counseling programs.  

VTSCA also advocates for policies that allow school counselors to focus on the work they’re uniquely qualified for—supporting students—rather than being pulled into non-counseling duties.  

“Of course we all chip in—that’s part of being a team player,” said Tomashot. “But we also need to be intentional about how we use our highly educated, highly trained professionals. School counselors support students’ academic progress, social-emotional growth, and future planning. They help students see the opportunities ahead. We need to recognize their unique value and ensure they’re positioned to do the work they’re trained to do.”