By Jen Luu
Piedmont Hills held its first parent meeting, “The Sky’s the Limit,” regarding funds for counseling and guidance last Tuesday in the L-Building. Students were highly encouraged to attend as well.
The meeting primarily discussed the usage of LCAP (Local Control and Accountability Plan) fund.
“LCAP funding is additional funding that would come into our district to be used as deemed necessary. The district was trying to gain some input from different stakeholders at our school to see how this extra money should be utilized,” explained counselor Jennifer Cody.
Members and attendees advocated for more support towards the school’s counseling program. A possible goal in the future is to expand the amount of the faculty.
“To have four counselors for 2,200 students is a very high case load. For us to feel like we’re effective and able to help, we would like to have more counselors so we can have more time with students. I also think it would be great to see an increase in social workers here,” expressed Ms. Cody.
The low ratio of students to counselors and social workers is detrimental to some who cannot obtain resources elsewhere. This only magnifies the importance of more funding towards the counseling program. After all, counselors assist with various issues like emotional health, college applications, class decisions and financial situations.
“We’re trying to help students (plan) for their future. If there’s more of us, then we can better serve students so that you guys can do your post-secondary planning. Not only that, we can also monitor students that are on track for graduation and for going to a four-year college,” responded Ms. Cody.
An increase in support towards social workers at Piedmont Hills can only yield beneficial results.
This year, to increase attendance, some students encouraged their club members to come.
“It’s their chance to improve the school and make a lasting impact,” said senior Brandon Dimapasoc.
For the sake of future generations, it is crucial for people to participate in these matters now.
“It was a really uplifting and eye-opening experience,” said senior Jaria Jaug.
The combined effort of parents, students, counselors, and teachers reflected a strong sense of unity.
In contrast to last year’s lack of attendance, this year’s meeting had a much more positive outcome.
“I think maybe two hundred and some people attended, which was a major difference from last year’s. A lot of the parents’ concerns and what they wanted this funding to be utilized for echoed some of what we think too. I was really pleased to see the turnout. It seems like parents have a number of different things they are hoping to see the money be used for,” said Ms. Cody.
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