To-do list for first-year counselors

• Be sure to carefully review and save the email you received from the DOE’s Department of Human Resources, which records all your current information concerning your New York City license/appointment and New York State certification. Most important, check that it is accurate. If not, follow the DOE’s instructions right away to correct any errors in the record.
• Make a note of your file/EIS number and your employee ID number and make sure you can log in to your Employee Self-Service account.
• You'll also need your file/EIS number or employee ID number to log into the DOE’s payroll portal, where you can enroll in direct deposit, see your pay stubs and more.
• Enroll in the UFT Welfare Fund. Separate from your health plan enrollment, the Fund provides your prescription drug, dental, optical and other benefits that supplement your New York City health plan.
  • After enrolling, follow the instructions on the website for sending in the required documentation.

Tech tools for parent outreach

• You don't need to make calls one by one to reach parents. Not only is that time-consuming, but the likelihood of reaching parents during your school’s parent engagement time is slim. Most families are busy and prefer receiving communications they can respond to at their own convenience. You can streamline your process for contacting families and make more successful connections by using tech tools.
• Set up a Google Voice account to obtain a free, separate phone number to use when communicating with parents so your personal cell phone number remains private. Google Voice has its own dedicated app so you can use the service on your phone without revealing your private number.
  • Sign into your Google account, go to voice.google.com and follow the prompts to set it up.
  • A Google Voice number comes with some cool features, like setting a “do not disturb” time when all calls are automatically routed to voicemail.
  • Google Voice also keeps records of conversations in your Gmail inbox, which makes documenting parent outreach automatic.

Protecting personally identifiable information (PII) of students

• As the school year progresses, you may receive requests from individuals outside the DOE for PII about students. PII includes a student's name, OSIS number, contact information, and other information when linked or linkable to PII, such as grade level, test scores, grades and graduation status.
  • This list is not exhaustive. Exceptions exist, but they are not universal. Please contact your principal before you proceed.
• As a reminder, you may not disclose student PII unless you first obtain written consent from a parent or, if the student is 18 or over, written consent from the student.
• Note that outside parties with whom PII generally cannot be shared without consent include:
  • New York Police Department employees;
  • School PTAs at your home school or another school;
  • Elected officials;
  • Labor union officials;
  • Vendors with whom the DOE has no agreement protecting the confidentiality and data security of education records.
• Please consult Chancellor's Regulation A-820 or your principal to learn more about rules for disclosing PII and obtaining consent.

Other reminders for school counselors

• Keep an eye out for an invitation to attend a virtual meeting for newly-appointed school counselors on Wednesday, Nov. 2.
• Mark your calendars: The 19th Annual School Counselors Conference is on Saturday, March 11, 2023. I will share more information about the conference as the date approaches, but please save the date.
• Teacher's Choice is still available for the 2022-23 school year until mid-January. School counselors are eligible to receive up to $110 in reimbursements.
  • To make use of your Teacher's Choice funds, save your receipts for purchases made between August and January. These receipts must accompany a Statement of Purpose/Accountability form.
  • Read the UFT's web page on Teacher's Choice for more information.

Staying connected with the union

• Sign up on the UFT website.  Throughout the year, the UFT sends email to members about important information, including breaking news and alerts about union campaigns. You’ll also begin to receive the monthly New Teacher Bulletin by email.
• Sign up for UFT text messages and be among the first to be notified about key information such as school closings in the event of inclement weather. Text: UFT to 30644 from your mobile phone (standard messaging and data rates apply) or sign up online.
• Follow the UFT on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

If you have any questions, contact Rosemarie Thompson at RThompson [at] uft [dot] org (RThompson[at]uft[dot]org).