Want to know how the WSCA Advocacy Committee is working to increase state-level funding for all school counselors?  
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We occasionally send updates on how we are advocating for counselors with our state’s lawmakers, and ask for feedback on important issues as needed.  

The House of Representatives has passed HB 1664, which will increase funding for schol counselors, nurses, socialworkers and psychologists. Thanks to representatives Rule, Ybarra, Ortiz-Self, Senn, Rude, Callan, and Stonier for speaking up fpr school counselors in the debate. And special thanks to Rep Stonier for recognizing National School Counselor Week on the floor!

2013-2018 Strategic Plan

WSCA Takeaways from the 2022 Session

• This year’s supplemental budget included a $90 million investment this year for school districts to hire more school counselors, nurses, social workers and psychologists to support the physical and social emotional needs of students. For the 2023-25 biennium, the investment increases to $548 million. 

• 2SHB 1664 directs the OSPI to only allocate the above-mentioned funding to a school district's demonstrated actual ratios of PSES staff, meaning the funds can’t be diverted and used to pay for other non-ESA positions. 

The prototypical school is assumed to have the following full-time student enrollments: 

• 400 students for elementary school; 

• 432 students for middle school; and 

• 600 students for high school. 

The current funding allocated for school counselors, based on these “prototypical” numbers, means each school should have the following:

1:250 high school

1:360 middle school

1:800 elementary school

In HB 1664, these numbers would change as follows, beginning with the 2022-23 school year:

1:200 high school

1:254 middle school

1:403 elementary school

The bill also specifies that funding for ESAs has to be used to fund ESAs.

• The budget also earmarked $346 million in federal funds for enrollment stabilization, partially backfilling school budgets that would have been cut because of decreases in enrollment. The pandemic sparked major drops in public school enrollment around the state. Without this stabilization backfill, school layoffs would have been likely, since state money follows the student. HB 1590, the policy bill to enact enrollment stabilization, was signed by the Governor. 

Other bills of interest:

o HB 1834: Concerning student excused absences for mental health reasons. 

o HB 1890: Concerning the children and youth behavioral health work group. 

o HB 1878: Increasing public school participation in the community eligibility provision of the United States department of agriculture. This will bring free and reduced lunches to an additional 600 schools in Washington, reaching 92,000 more students.

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Advocacy Committee Meetings
 

ASCA Position Statements