‘Death by a thousand paper cuts’: Elementary school counselor leaves the Virginia Beach School District after 19 years

Lisa Lee, elementary school counselor at Trantwood Elementary in Virginia Beach, explains how emotional burnout and the state’s teacher shortage are just some of the reasons why she’s joining the increasing number of Virginia educators retiring early.

As Virginia public schools struggle with a statewide teacher shortage, educators like Lisa Lee of Virginia Beach are being asked to pile more onto their plates. 

“My job has changed so much,” said Lee, who has worked as an elementary school counselor for Trantwood Elementary in Virginia Beach since 2006. 

“We’re in it for the kids, but to retain quality teachers, it’s just not sustainable.”

On top of working with hundreds of elementary students each year to foster their emotional and behavioral development, from individual and small group counseling to crisis management, Lee said she’s been increasingly asked to shoulder additional responsibilities that take her out of the classroom and away from students.

“We are the back-up admin…we are constantly on call. That takes away from my ability to be in classrooms or do groups,” said Lee, who used to run a variety of programming for students, like the school’s theatre program and a peer tutoring program in previous years.

Unable to provide enriching activities that excite students about learning, and buried under miscellaneous administrative duties, Lee said she and other staff at her school are burned out. 

“You can only do so much when exhausted and defeated,” said Lee. 

“It’s like death by a thousand paper cuts.”

Fighting back

Lee’s situation isn’t unique—education advocates like Heather Sipe have heard stories like Lee’s around the Virginia Beach School District. 

“I’m seeing it more and more. You have educators who have devoted years of their lives to education, and they’re choosing to retire early,” said Sipe, who taught German in over a dozen middle and high schools across Virginia Beach for 23 years before becoming president of the Virginia Beach Education Association in 2024.

“There are a lot of things that need to be looked at and, systematically, changes need to be made to support our educators and our students because they’re not in a supportive environment.”

Sipe says these changes are critical, especially since President Donald Trump and his administration continue to attack the US Department of Education, which will worsen teacher shortages in Virginia and across the country.  

Related: Trump’s effort to abolish the Education Department would hurt students with disabilities, families

Fortunately, both Sipe and Lee say there’s one place where educators can meet and work together to advocate for Virginia’s public school teachers—their local school board.

“I think more eyes are opening to how important local elections are. So often, the local election gets overlooked, but they are important. Our school board sets the policies that run the school division that affect every minute of every day of our staff and students,” said Sipe, adding that the Virginia Beach School Board livestreams their bimonthly meetings and publishes them online.

“If we get a school board that would vote to give a salary increase and use your educators and mental health professionals the way they’re supposed to be, you’re gonna start retaining teachers,” said Lee.

“If you’re not sticking up for the teachers, you’re not standing up for the students because those teachers leave, and the students get whatever is left.”

Read more: Federal education cuts could worsen Virginia’s teacher shortage—locals are fighting back

Get on board

The next Virginia Beach school board election is November 5, 2026, so if you’re considering running for office, there’s time to prepare. 

To start, check out this guide from the Virginia School Boards Association to learn more about the roles and responsibilities of school board members. Then, check out the Virginia Department of Elections for information on getting on the ballot. 

Whether or not you run for the school board, voting for local and legislative candidates who care about public education is just as important. Several Democratic lawmakers have introduced legislation to address teacher shortages by increasing teacher pay, reducing barriers to licensure, and improving working conditions to recruit and retain educators in recent years. 

However, despite the bills being introduced, the fight for Virginia’s teachers remains an uphill battle as Gov. Glenn Youngkin continues his long streak of vetoing legislation designed to improve public schools. His state superintendent of public instruction recently abruptly resigned, leaving leadership in question. Meanwhile, the governor has welcomed news of Trump’s executive order to dismantle the US Department of Education.

“It’s the big things, it’s the small things, all of it combined is leading to the attrition of our teachers, and nobody’s going into the field,” said Lee. 

“We need state legislators who believe that education is a priority.”

Related: Spanberger, Earle-Sears officially declared nominees for Virginia governor’s race