A locker door slammed too hard. A head down on a desk. Bullying. Signs of alcohol or drug abuse.

School social workers are dealing with them all, and something else: Social, emotional and behavioral needs among students are intensifying.

Here is the charge school social workers and their supporters brought to NYSUT: to advocate that the state require all public schools in New York employ at least one full-time social worker in every K-12 building, and to ask for state funding to avoid another unfunded state mandate.

Thirteen local unions and two Retiree Councils sponsored a resolution that passed at NYSUT's recent Representative Assembly.

An estimated 3,000 school social workers practice in New York's 4,500 K-12 school buildings.

"Students in need deserve access to these dedicated professionals," said NYSUT Vice President Kathleen Donahue. She said NYSUT is "proud to advocate on this issue," as it has for other professionals, including school nurses and counselors.

School social worker Debbie Valenzuela learned early in her career that dividing her time between school buildings was not effective.

"It was grueling," she said. "You're only putting out fires if there isn't a social worker in every building." 

Valenzuela, now a full-time school social worker at Waverly Avenue Elementary School in the Sachem school district in Suffolk County, was recently named Social Worker of the Year by the National Association of Puerto Rican/Hispanic Social Workers.

"Being bilingual, I am sensitive to the families of second language learners," she said.

The responsibilities of professionals such as social workers have increased, in part, because more students suffer from emotional disturbances, autism spectrum disorders and behavioral problems.

More special education students are requiring mandated school counseling. Changes within the home, too, have increased stress on children.

"We all have more kids from families that need intervention," said John Heslin, president of the Sachem Central Teachers Association, one of the locals sponsoring the resolution. "As teachers, we want to work with school social workers."

"School social workers, in turn, work side-by-side with teachers, counselors, nurses and psychologists to remove the social-emotional barriers to learning," said Christine Platkis, school social worker at Floral Park Memorial High School, Nassau County.

Platkis, a member of the Sewanhaka Federation of Teachers led by Rosanne Mamo, and secretary of the New York State School Social Workers Association, said "School social workers have the role and ability to mobilize people in their schools."