At a regular meeting of the Jim Thorpe Area School Board Monday night, a motion was passed to post a position for a K-12 guidance counselor.

In attendance were several counselors from within Jim Thorpe's school district.One of their main concerns was the cost of time and resources involved with what they see as an undermanned staff.Many of them have to divide time throughout the day between schools that are miles away from each other; some counselors often find themselves traveling between Lawrence B. Morris Elementary School and the Penn Kidder Campus in Albrightsville, and see this traveling as an inefficient use of time better spent in the office.They agreed that many situations arise that need to be dealt with in a more time sensitive manner, and problems arise moment to moment, so the ability to have a counselor on hand is critical.Some of the counselors noticed that in years past, they were better equipped to deal with the problems and challenges of students when they were able to get to know them better, and especially when they had a clearer understanding of their parents and family history.Grades K-4 counselor Tracy Newton told the board that she sees the role of a guidance counselor not only as a liaison between the school and the administration, but between the school and the students, and anything that allows them to become more familiar with them makes their job all the more easy.While it will take time for any new guidance counselor to acclimate to the school and to the students, having more staff will allow each counselor to focus on a smaller pool of students, with the hope that they will be able to get to know them and the conditions of their home lives better.It was also believed that having the guidance offices efficiently staffed at the K-8 levels will make counseling at the high school level much simpler.In the elementary schools, counselors help students with social and friendship building skills, how to deal with bullies, and by fourth grade are showing them organizational tools and giving them studying tips.The more resources available to the guidance offices in the elementary schools, the more they can help students build a solid foundation that will help them throughout the course of their studies in the school district, and will help in dealing with at-home counseling issues before the students enter high school.District principals were unanimous in their appreciation of the guidance counselors and were grateful for their attendance, thanked those who were able to attend the meeting and echoed the board's support for an additional counselor to ease the guidance office restrictions.The board cancelled regular board meetings scheduled for Nov. 29, Dec. 13 and Dec. 27.These meetings were rescheduled for Monday, Dec. 6 and Monday, Dec. 20.