Mental health resources for students in public schools has been an ongoing debate.

“Honestly, it’s a really big issue across the United States where mental health is not getting the attention it really deserves in our public school system,” said Empire High School graduate Joshua Ashton.

Empire High School is located in Arizona’s Vail Unified School District. Ashton is currently the political co-director for March for Our Lives Arizona. A big focus of the organization is safety on school campuses. A lot of this comes down to combating gun violence, but Ashton says it’s more than just advocating for physical safety.

“A lot of people have this misconception about school where first and foremost it’s about education. And yes, that makes sense – but really, first and foremost, your students should be safe emotionally and physically. Because if they’re not, how in the world are they going to learn?” said Ashton.

Arizona’s student to counselor ratio is the worst in the country with 905 students to 1 counselor. That’s twice the national average of 455:1.

“Where we’re at right now, I don’t think it’s enough,” said Ashton.

Ashton says the mounting pressure in high school on top of a mental health crisis creates the perfect storm. He says he didn’t really feel supported by the counselors at his school.

“There were so many other students that for the vast majority of my high school years, I didn’t really feel as if my specifically designated high school counselor actually knew who I was until maybe senior year,” said Ashton.

The statewide student to counselor ratio is quite high compared to local district numbers. The Tucson Unified School District’s ratio is 500:1, in Vail, it’s 750:1, and in Marana, it’s 758:1. The American School Counselor Association recommends 250:1.

“I would say even lower than that. In a perfect world, I’d say maybe 150, but obviously that’s very unrealistic, especially since we’re at 900:1,” said Ashton.

Legislation to add more counselors was not heard this past session. Senate Bill 1344 and House Bill 2562 would have mandated a ratio of 550 students to 1 counselor.

Gov. Doug Ducey recently signed $15 million into budget to fund more counselors and school resource officers.