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Hernando Today

STAR Guidance Counselor Position To Be Cut

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By LINNEA BROWN

Hernando Today

Published: May 28, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - Some of the neediest students in the Hernando County School District will go without a guidance counselor next year due to budget cuts.

The guidance counselor position at the district's alternative school, STAR Education Center, is set to be eliminated next year, with duties being shifted from counselor Vicki Hughes to Pete Ruiz and Marion Jones, two violence prevention workers.

Hughes, who has worked for the district 12 years, is being transferred to an open guidance counselor position at Powell Middle School, according to district reallocation documents.

The school's longtime principal, John Shepherd, said he was told to select positions that the school could go without. The school is also losing a custodian, teacher and two paraprofessionals, he said.

"I hate to lose a guidance counselor but, if I have to choose, I'm going to keep a teacher over a guidance counselor," he said.

"When you have to come up with $5 million, you have to make cuts. I think everybody's taking a hit across the county, not just (my school)," he added, referring to the district's potential losses due to projected budget shortfalls.

But students took a different perspective.

"I don't think this school is going to be able to function next year without a counselor," said junior James "Meatball" Devito, 17, who came to the school this year from Nature Coast Technical High School.

He said he probably would have dropped out of school if it had not been for Hughes, with whom he regularly meets to discuss both personal and academic issues.

"She's just been there for me," he said. "If I got angry in class or was just down in the dumps and having a bad day, there was someone I could come talk to."

James said many of the school's students feel they can trust Hughes because they know her, and will not feel comfortable talking to anyone else.

"I think they should keep Ms. Hughes here," he said. "(District officials) aren't thinking about the students' needs. They're just thinking about the pay cut."

Students are sent to STAR as an alternative to suspension or expulsion for disciplinary or conduct offenses from other district schools. The school currently has 120 students and 11 teachers.

However, Shepherd said he feels the position can be trimmed without interfering with the school's quality.

"We'll be fine. We're tough-skinned," he said. "I'm getting too old to worry."

Shepherd, who has been the school's principal for 14 years, said the school did not have a guidance counselor, social worker or school resource officer until several years ago, and instead relied on officers from the Brooksville Police Department to handle issues at the school.

"I've got everything covered," he said. "When a job's got to be done, you do it."

Next year, students will be sent to Ruiz or Jones for counseling, and Shepherd will help outgoing students choose their classes at the schools they are returning to, he said.

Neither Ruiz nor Jones - this year's athletic director at Hernando High School - are certified counselors, and instead are certified athletic coaches.

Hughes has a professional degree in guidance and counseling, according to the Florida Department of Education's Web site.

However, Ruiz has worked at STAR for eight years as a violence prevention worker, and many of the students know him, Shepherd said.

When reached at work Tuesday, Hughes declined to comment.

Shepherd declined to comment about rumors that district administrators are trying to close the school in the 2009-10 school year.

"Rumors are rumors," he said. "And until it happens, I'll just keep running the school."

Superintendent Wayne Alexander said the staffing changes at STAR are due to officials recognizing "difficult times ahead," and estimated that state budget cuts will force the district to scale back to its 2006-07 numbers.

He said programs at all schools are being reviewed and examined - as they are annually - and also denounced discussion of the school closing as a rumor.

However, Shepherd said he cannot foresee the school shutting down.

"Where else are you going to put these students with chronic disruption and zero tolerance (issues)?" he said. "You have to have some type of place for them."

Any decisions to discontinue or revamp district programs must go before the school board for approval.

Reporter Linnea Brown can be reached at 352-544-5289 or lbrown@hernandotoday.com.

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