Date: Sep 1, 2009 11:51 AM

To: All Guidance Counselors

From: Rosemarie Thompson, Chapter Leader – Guidance Counselors

Re: Guidance counselor hours

Article 6 now says:

Counselors work hours are six hours and 30 minutes exclusive of lunch every day.

Counselors are NOT involved in the 37 1/2 minutes of extended day.

To clarify:

If the school’s lunch period is:

• 30 minutes, the counselor works 6 1/2 hours plus the 30 minutes — a total of 7 hours, five days a week.
• 40 minutes, the counselor works 6 1/2 hours plus the 40 minutes — a total of 7 hours and 10 minutes, five days a week.
• 45 minutes, the counselor works 6 1/2 hours plus the 45 minutes — a total of 7 hours and 15 minutes, five days a week.
• 50 minutes, the counselor works 6 1/2 hours plus the 50 minutes — a total of 7 hours and 20 minutes, five days a week.

Also:

Counselors are still governed by Article 7B [see below]. They do not cover classes, do lunch duty, dismissal duty, etc. They are not involved in Circular 6 issues. Counselors do not do small group tutoring in extended time.

I hope this clarify these issues.

Article Seven

Assignments and Counseling Conditions

1. Selection for Available Assignments
   Licensed guidance counselors will be given an opportunity to apply for available guidance assignments within the school and selection will be made on the basis of layoff seniority where qualifications are equal.
2. Limitation on Assignments
   Counselors shall not be assigned to cover classes, represent the school in lieu of a teacher or supervisor, or perform other duties normally performed by classroom teachers. Counselors shall not be required to schedule and administer large-scale testing programs or to score and record test data resulting from such programs. Counselors shall not be involved in the mechanical details of grade-wide or school-wide programming or grade organization. Counselors shall not be given any administrative assignments such as but not limited to lunch, hall, bus or yard duty. It is recognized that emergency situations may develop because of the unavailability of other school staff. In such situations of emergency, the right of the principal to make an emergency assignment is fully recognized.