There’s a Crisis With Public School Counselors

Parents in Fairfax County are appalled after learning last week that a school counselor at Glasgow Middle School was employed for six months after being convicted of solicitation of prostitution from a minor.  The counselor was arrested for soliciting an underage prostitute in November 2020, pleaded not guilty in August 2021, and was convicted in March 2022.  In June he was arrested again for soliciting a prostitute – all while still employed by Fairfax County Public Schools.

The district superintendent informed parents in a letter that the counselor was fired once the school became aware of the situation. According to a Fairfax parent, the school system does not conduct annual background checks on teachers, counselors and staff members, and instead relies on self-reporting.

Despite there being good public school counselors who would never think of harming a young student and respect parental rights, Virginia parents are losing trust in public schools because of incidents like this.

What happened in Fairfax adds to the already disturbing trend of school counselors helping children change their gender identity or having conversations with them about sex and sexuality without parents’ knowledge. Here are just a few recent examples:

• Parents of a Florida elementary school girl suing school district after their child attempted to commit suicide following the school’s attempts to transition the child to a boy without their knowledge.

• A mother is suing the School District in Salinas, California, for coercing her daughter into becoming transgender by two of her teachers.

• A mother from Los Angeles lost her daughter to suicide after the school system had her removed from the home and eventually permitted doctors to give the 16-year-old hormones to make her look like a boy.

• Parents of a 12-year-old girl are suing a Wisconsin School District for beginning a ”social transition,” which involved “presenting to others as the opposite sex, primarily by adopting a new name and pronouns,” against the parents’ express wishes.

• Loudoun County school counselor indicted on charge of indecent liberties with student

Whether through graphic sex education programs or radical gender ideology, many public schools – including school counselors – are actively imposing a hypersexualized set of values on children that undermine the family and faith-based values taught at home.  Now more than ever, parents need to be notified of any counseling services being offered to their child and must be required to give written consent to provide such services. A student’s parents also need to be allowed to be present at any school counseling session, but especially if it involves topics of sex and sexuality.

This year, a bill (HB 1034, R-Ransone) was introduced to develop guidelines for local school boards to follow that address parental consent for, and involvement in, any school counseling services provided to their child.  The bill ultimately failed on a vote of 8-7 in the Senate Education and Health committee, with Senator Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax) being the only Democrat to support the bill.

We must continue to demand assurances from every school system that it is taking the necessary steps to protect the mind, body and hearts of every student, including in any counseling they are receiving. We are going to continue demanding this legislatively, legally, and politically until every parent’s fundamental rights are fully secured.