Vashon community rallies to keep McMurray counselor full-time

Published 2:40 pm Tuesday, June 16, 2026

A McMurray Middle School counselor position at risk of being cut to four days a week was restored to full-time after thousands of dollars were raised by the Vashon Schools Foundation.

During their annual island-wide GiveBIG event — which opened for donations in late April — 82 donors contributed more than $61,000 to fund the position, exceeding their $50,000 goal, according to board members.

The extra funds will be used to support academic intervention programming, board members said.

The influx of donations means McMurray Middle School will maintain two full-time counselors for the 2026-27 school year — something Vashon Schools Foundation board members said is critical for the well-being of students.

“It’s one of those things that is so important for students, at that age especially, in middle school,” Vashon Schools Foundation Co-President Kennedy Leavens said. ”With everything that’s going on at a national level … it felt like a moment that we could really step into and talk about just the value that these trusted adults have.”

McMurray Middle School counselor Anna Waldman — whose position was at risk — said the GiveBIG campaign was a validating reminder that the community recognizes the impact of the counseling team’s work.

“It feels really good to feel supported and just really valued by our community,” Waldman said. “It’s definitely a two-person team.”

The Vashon Island School District receives funding from Washington State — distributed by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) — which is calculated using student enrollment figures.

But Leavens said state funding doesn’t fully cover many positions. And in recent years, Washington State has reduced the share of the operating budget dedicated to K-12 education.

According to data from OSPI, during the 2019-21 operating budget, 51.6% of the state budget was spent on education. For the 2025-27 cycle, that share dropped to 43.2%

Combined with shrinking enrollment on the island, that has meant that more of the cost to keep many positions funded needs to be supplemented.

“That’s the trend everywhere,” Leavens said. “In places that are getting more expensive, like Vashon, the Seattle area and King County, it’s harder for families to have more kids. It’s harder for families to buy houses and move here.”

Vashon Schools Foundation regularly communicates with the Vashon Island School District to understand what positions may be at risk. During past GiveBIG events, the foundation has helped fund a school nurse and a family engagement coordinator.

Two years ago, the foundation restored funding to a counselor position that was at risk of being cut entirely.

This year, when the school district notified the foundation of a possible reduction in hours for one of the counselor positions, it was clear what their GiveBIG campaign should be.

”It felt like that was a great opportunity for us to come in with a very concrete ask of our donors,” Vashon Schools Foundation Secretary India Alarcon said.

At McMurray Middle School, students are assigned a counselor based on where their last name falls in the alphabet — splitting the student body between two counselors. It’s an adult they can lean on for academic, social and emotional support.

Waldman said it’s critical that both counselors are available to students every single day, with even a reduction by one day a week making a noticeable difference.

“A big part of our job is just responding in the moment to things as they arise,” Waldman said. “When I’m not there, then that kind of falls on the other counselor.”

During the 2024-25 school year, Waldman said her position was only funded for four days a week, but still, she found herself essentially working full-time to meet student needs.

“The work doesn’t lessen just because the FTE goes down,” Waldman said. “I still have the same number of students that I’m serving, I’m just trying to do it in one less day.”

McMurray counselors screen students for things like anxiety, depression and self-harm behaviors, and provide individualized support for students flagged as vulnerable.

In a 2026 board meeting presentation, counselors reported that 238 middle schoolers had been screened. Of those students, 9% indicated self-harm, 7% indicated suicidal ideation, 27% screened positive for depressive symptoms and 31% for anxiety.

Despite those numbers, most students reported feeling supported at school, with 97% of students saying they felt there was an adult at school who cared about them, and 99% that there was an adult who listened to them.

Maintaining two full-time counselors will ensure all students are screened, Vashon Schools Foundation board members say.

Far surpassing their GiveBIG goal, foundation board members say the outpouring of support from the Vashon community reflects how deeply residents care about their students.

“An investment in our kids is an investment in our community,” Alarcon said. “It’s really so phenomenal that we have that level of support.”