Minnesota schools are grappling with a significant student mental health crisis, stretched thin by a severe shortage of counselors and the expiration of critical federal funding. With a student-to-counselor ratio more than double the national recommendation, educators and mental health advocates are calling for stable, long-term state investment to prevent the system from collapsing.
The situation has gained new urgency following recent tragic events and the lingering effects of the pandemic, which have placed unprecedented strain on students. As temporary relief funds disappear, many districts are left to manage growing needs with shrinking resources, forcing them into a reactive cycle of crisis management rather than preventative care.
Key Takeaways
- Minnesota's student-to-counselor ratio is 558-to-1, far exceeding the recommended 250-to-1.
- Federal pandemic relief funds that supported mental health staff are expiring this year.
- Minnesota received only two of the federal grants issued after the 2022 Uvalde school shooting.
- Advocates are pushing for a shift from temporary grants to a permanent, state-funded support model.
A System Under Strain
In schools across Minnesota, the gap between student needs and available support is widening. The state's average student-to-counselor ratio of 558 to 1 is one of the worst in the nation, placing an immense burden on existing staff, particularly in elementary and middle schools where some counselors are responsible for over 1,000 students.
This overwhelming caseload fundamentally changes the nature of a counselor's job. Instead of focusing on proactive guidance in academics, social-emotional learning, and career development, they are often consumed by immediate crises.
“The goal of a school counselor is to be preventative in nature,” said Carolyn Berger, advocacy chair for the Minnesota School Counselor Association. “Without enough counselors, we’re not able to do that work. We end up just reacting — crisis counseling or putting out fires.”
This reality is felt daily in classrooms. Jeanette Vyhanek, a counselor at Wellstone Elementary in St. Paul, described how she and a colleague serve hundreds of students while also covering other duties. “There are days when it feels like we don’t have enough time to get anything done,” she said. A single student crisis can demand hours of attention, leaving little time for the preventative work that could help other students avoid reaching a similar breaking point.
Federal Aid Proves Unreliable
In recent years, federal funding provided a temporary lifeline. Pandemic-era relief funds allowed districts to hire more counselors, social workers, and psychologists. However, those funds are set to expire this year, creating a fiscal cliff for many school systems.
Furthermore, a major federal initiative launched after the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting has had limited impact in the state. Congress approved a $1 billion package to expand school-based mental health services, but Minnesota secured only two grants from the program. One went to Rochester Public Schools and the other to a partnership between the University of Minnesota and St. Paul Public Schools.
The Rochester Experience
Rochester Public Schools used its $1.9 million grant to create a program that paid partial tuition for community members to earn social work degrees in exchange for serving in local schools. The initiative successfully doubled the number of students who could receive services by placing graduate interns in schools. However, the federal funding ended two years early, cutting nearly half the program's value and forcing the district to eliminate four school social worker positions.
“We’re not fully staffed, and the needs aren’t decreasing,” said Koni Grimsrud, the district’s director of student well-being. The experience in Rochester highlights the precarious nature of relying on short-term, competitive grants to build essential services.
The Search for a Stable Solution
While federal aid has been inconsistent, Minnesota has a long-standing state program that forms the backbone of its school mental health services. Created in 2007, a Department of Human Services (DHS) program provides $20.5 million annually to pay community mental health providers to work directly inside schools.
This model is designed to keep a firewall between academic and medical records. “School counselors don’t provide mental health treatment,” explained Sue Abderholden, former executive director of NAMI Minnesota. “They play an important role, but they’re not therapists.”
The DHS program now operates in about 80% of districts, but demand far outpaces the available resources, with waiting lists often forming early in the school year. This has led to a growing consensus that a more permanent and predictable funding source is needed.
State-Level Efforts
In 2023, state lawmakers took a step toward creating more stability. Rep. Cheryl Youakim, DFL–Hopkins, helped create a program that designates $10 million over two years for school counselors, social workers, psychologists, and nurses. A key feature allows districts to use the money to retain existing staff as federal grants run out.
The Fridley school district is one example of a system trying to adapt. Assistant Superintendent Rochelle Cox said the district used COVID funds to hire social workers, positions it previously couldn't afford. When that money ran out, Fridley kept the social workers but made cuts elsewhere, including to administrative services and after-school programs.
“We’ve tried to keep supports in place during the school day first,” Cox explained. “Anytime we can be proactive, that’s the gold star.”
A Call for State-Led Investment
As federal dollars recede, the focus is shifting squarely to the state legislature to build a sustainable infrastructure for student mental health. Relying on a patchwork of temporary grants has proven insufficient for addressing a systemic, long-term problem.
“Federal grants come and go,” Abderholden stated. “You apply, you might get them, and then they end. It makes it hard to build lasting infrastructure.”
Advocates argue that the solution lies in transforming the state's existing programs. Abderholden suggests converting the DHS program's competitive grants into a predictable funding formula, similar to how the state allocates per-pupil aid to schools. This would give districts the financial stability to hire and retain mental health professionals for the long haul.
Carolyn Berger echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that the only lasting fix is a sustained state investment in counseling positions, not another cycle of short-term grants. For educators on the front lines, the message is clear: the state must step up to ensure every student has access to the support they need to thrive.
“The answer isn’t Washington,” Abderholden concluded. “It’s Minnesota investing fully in what we already know works.”
