This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.
by Neema Roshania for NewsWorks
Seventh grader Jared Taylor often volunteers to stay after school to straighten desks and sweep his classroom and the hallways. It’s a tough choice because it leaves his younger sister, a 3rd grader, waiting for him outside the Carpenter Lane institution.
He cares about C.W. Henry School — the Mount Airy K-8 he’s attended since kindergarten — and recent budget cuts have often left the school messy.
"I take pride in my classroom and the school," Taylor said.
Sharing concerns with the mayor
Taylor was one of eight students and several parents and teachers who met with Mayor Nutter on Wednesday afternoon to talk about the on-the-ground impact of budget cuts on the school.
It’s one of four such visits the mayor is making to schools this season.
Their concerns ranged from a lack of full-time non-teaching support staff — like nurses, gifted support teachers, librarians and assistant principals — and cuts in extracurricular activities to the quality of workbooks distributed to students.
The need for a full-time counselor — a rarity at District schools — was brought up multiple times.
Hearing first-hand accounts
After being laid off and then brought back on board last year, Maxine Coker started the year splitting her time as a counselor among eight different schools.
She was restored to C.W. Henry full time in November, but found out Wednesday that she will be at two schools next year.
Eighth-grade teacher Francesca Cantorini described a morning when she woke up to an email from a student who said she had just swallowed a bottle of pills.
She was able to get in touch with Coker and intervene to get the student the emotional and physical help she needed, but said the quick, comprehensive response wouldn’t have been possible without a counselor’s help.
In addition to the emotional support that counselors provide students, counselors are largely responsible for helping 8th-grade students apply to high schools. Without them, 8th-grade teachers are likely to fill that role.
"I don’t know how we would constantly navigate those waters effectively and efficiently to get them in the best high schools possible," said Cantorini.
Seventh grader Dominique Smith, the school’s student council president, agreed.
"I really need help with high school choices and I have a lot of friends who have problems at home," she said. "When they come to me, I don’t know what to do. I go to the counselors and teachers."