District hires elementary school counselors

Children with emotional, social and behavioral problems are on the rise and the Las Virgenes Unified School District has responded by hiring a team of elementary school counselors.

Kelly Lowry, Royce Daniels and Kelly Meador share counseling duties at the eight elementary schools in the district.

Meador is a full-time counselor and rotates her visits between Round Meadow and Lupin Hills in Calabasas, White Oak in Westlake Village and Yerba Buena in Agoura Hills.

Lowry and Daniels have been hired part time to work with children individually and in groups at two schools each. Daniels will focus on students at Chaparral Elementary in Calabasas and Willow Elementary in Agoura Hills, while Lowry will work with children at Bay Laurel in Calabasas and Sumac Elementary in Agoura Hills.

The counselors and Ann Eklund, the district’s director of elementary education, recently presented a report on the program’s progress. Eklund told the school board that the counseling positions are funded by Measure E, the $98 million annual parcel tax approved by voters in 2004 to help compensate for state budget cutbacks.

“They’re truly a dream team,” Eklund said of the counselors.

Since the inception of the elementary school counseling program in late 2005, the counselors have received more than 600 referrals, Meador told board members. “There’s a huge need,” she said.

Elementary children as young as six have social skills issues, anger management problems and may even suffer from depression, experts say.

Teachers, administrators and parents are being asked to refer students who may benefit from counseling and students themselves are being encouraged to “self-refer.”

Children as young as seven have requested meeting with a counselor, Daniels said.

“They’re carrying a burden and they unlock that door and out they come,” she said.

In addition to working with students with specific problems, the counselors will also conduct classroom activities designed to improve communication between students and enhance social skills.

Experts agree that tackling psychological, behavioral, social and emotional problems prior to entering middle school arms children with the tools to cope during their teen years.

“How wonderful (it is) to address some of these problems before they get to middle school,” Daniels said.

The goal is to give students a smoother transition from elementary school to middle school.

Sandra Smyser, district superintendent, said parents must give counselors permission to speak with their children.