In 2022, longtime guidance counselor Monique Young, who had worked full time at the school since 2012, announced her departure, prompting the district to begin its search for a replacement. In October of 2023, Toni Jones joined the guidance counseling team full-time to fill Young’s role of helping students whose last names begin A-F. However, Jones’s time here was short-lived, as she announced her resignation last summer for family reasons.
When the current school year began, students with last names A-F found themselves without a counselor yet again for the first month of school. This gap was finally bridged in September when Mary Carol Bernal stepped into the role but in a district-mandated 60% capacity, splitting her time between SHS and her role as the head of the Middle College system at West Valley College.
This marked the third counselor transition in just three years for the A-F student group, a reality that has caused considerable frustration — especially for the Class of 2025. Among the 68 seniors in this last name group, many have expressed concerns over the constant turnover.
Senior Cassidy Coghlan, a Division 1 rowing recruit for the University of California, San Diego, is among those who have been affected.
“I definitely struggled with the transition between counselors,” Coghlan said. “Going into senior year with college applications, I really needed someone to answer my questions.”
Her experience mirrors that of many other students, including myself, who have found it challenging to form trustful connections with their counselors due to the frequent changes. This turbulence has also led to complications with logistical processes as seniors have tried to secure recommendation letters.
“For my recommendation letter, Mr. Louie wrote it because I was part of the Falcon Family Peer Tutor program,” Coghlan said. “Mr. Louie is also the unofficial A-F advisor for all students, so Mrs. Bernal wasn’t involved in the process at all. She didn’t really know me, and I didn’t really know her, so it didn’t make sense for her to write it anyway.”
Students noted that smoother transitions could have eased the challenges, citing the importance of building trust and familiarity. Coghlan praised the example of Toni Jones, who made an effort to introduce herself and connect with students early on.
“When Mrs. Jones came in, she brought everyone in for a meeting, introduced herself, and got to know her students,” Coghlan said. “If Mrs. Bernal had done something similar, the transition might have felt less abrupt.”
Bernal also acknowledges the initial challenges of her transition to SHS, which might have prevented her connection to students earlier on, especially with learning a new system of scheduling.
“Initially, it was really hard, because the whole process of scheduling and moving classes here is completely different. I’ve never done it before,” Bernal said. “But I’m doing a lot right now to plan ahead for January, to be more prepared and not swarmed.”
In recent months, teachers have criticized the district’s cost-saving decision to make the A-F counselor position 60% to align with student-counselor ratios at Los Gatos High School, arguing that fully serving students’ needs is nearly impossible if a counselor is on campus every other day.
In the face of the instability in the past two years, some students have sought external support through private counselors or mentors like College and Career Center adviser Sierra Ward, who has always worked closely with the senior class.
“Before I got recruited, I worked with a private counselor and with Sierra for advice,” Coghlan said. “My coaches helped a lot with my recruitment, but not having a consistent school counselor for academic questions was tough. When I committed [to UCSD] I ended up relying heavily on Mrs. Saiki (the counselor for students with last names G-L.)”
As she settles into her new role, Bernal encourages students to reach out to her if they need more support or guidance.
“I don’t know what I don’t know,” she said. “So far, I haven’t gotten any students reaching out saying they haven’t been able to contact me, and if students reach out and express that they do feel lost or are worried about not getting enough counseling, we’d definitely be able to work something out.”
As a result of the current part-time status for Bernal, other counselors have seen their workload increase. For instance, counselor Eileen Allen has currently taken over students with A-B last names, in addition to her usual workload of M-R students. Counselor Brian Safine has also worked on around more than 70 college reports for students this fall, requiring working hours well beyond the school day.
Bernal explains this as a result of the district decision to lower her caseload at SHS since she also has commitments to the Middle College program and the SVCTE program.
Although the current situation is not ideal, as for the possibilities of taking a full-time position, Bernal says that is comfortable with where she is at now.
“I really like the kids in the Middle College program and I really like the students here,” she said. “I’m comfortable, but again, if it’s not working out, then that has to be re-evaluated.”
