Across the country, school counselors are the most important people in a school. However, there has been a nationwide shortage of counselors, and here at Wheeling Park, it is no different. 

Last year, Mr. Francis left for a college counseling job, and last month, Ms. Trifaro left for a job closer to home in Pittsburgh with more pay. Although last year they hired Mrs. Kreitzer (formerly Ms. Logsdon) to replace Mr. Francis, they’re now struggling to find a qualified replacement for Ms. Trifaro. 

In August of 2023, Mrs. Kreitzer was hired while finishing her final semester at PennWest California University. 

“It was a whirlwind to say the least. I got the job and jumped in 10 days later,” Kreitzer said. 

Mrs. Kreitzer also said that even though this is her second year and she is still learning new things. 

Now this year, with Ms. Trifaro having left, there now is a vacancy in the counseling department. Although no one has been hired, there have been a few applicants, although none of them have the correct degree for the job.

“We are going to reach out to WVU and Marshall, both have an accredited school counseling master’s degree program,” said counseling department chair Mrs. Short.

The counseling department is splitting Ms. Trifaro’s students across the five other counselors. 9th graders have Mrs. Kreitzer, 10th graders have Dr. Maloney, 11th graders have Mrs. Jones, and seniors are split between Ms. Mathieu and Mrs. Short. This additional list of students is added to their already 350 plus-student-case-load. 

According to the NEA, “Schools are experiencing an ongoing nationwide school counselor shortage. Forty-eight states are above the recommended students to school counselor ratio of 250:1.” With our counselors already well over their suggested amount, be patient as they handle all of the extra students.