To the San Diego Unified School Board:

We, the undersigned supporters, staff, parents and guardians of students in the STARS program, strongly oppose the proposed elimination of STARS counselor positions.

The STARS program was built to serve students with complex academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs — including students with autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, and histories of social trauma. It was not designed as a general education support model. It was designed as a specialized program with specialized staffing.

For many of our children, the program is working.

Designated STARS counselors are not interchangeable with campus-wide general education counselors. They provide:

·       Daily behavioral monitoring and intervention

·       Specialized social-emotional support for autistic students

·       Trauma-informed behavioral guidance

·       Real-time regulation coaching

·       Structured collaboration with teachers and families

·       Oversight of behavioral plans and student progress

Eliminating these positions and shifting responsibilities to counselors serving significantly larger student populations will materially change the implementation environment for STARS students.

At some sites, STARS counselor ratios are approximately 1:30. General education counselor ratios routinely exceed 1:250 and can be as high as 1:900 at secondary levels. These are fundamentally different levels of access, bandwidth, and specialized attention.

We do not believe that shifting to a campus-wide counseling model can preserve the same level of daily behavioral oversight, specialized expertise, and student-centered support that defines the STARS program.

This is not an abstract staffing decision. It is a decision that will directly impact vulnerable students who depend on consistency, expertise, and structured behavioral support to access their education.

We respectfully but firmly call on the Board to:

1.     Halt the elimination of STARS counselor positions.

2.     Preserve specialized behavioral and social-emotional staffing within the STARS program.

3.     Ensure that any programmatic changes are driven by student outcomes, not staffing consolidation.

The STARS program represents a commitment made to families — both formally through IEP teams and informally through program design and daily execution. That commitment must be honored.

We urge the Board to protect what is working and to maintain the specialized structure that has enabled our children to succeed.