Superintendent Mark McLaughlin discusses a proposed new position during the July 9 Select Board meeting.
Reminder Publishing screen capture by Tyler Garnet
SOUTH HADLEY — During the Select Board meeting on July 9, the board approved a request for a middle school adjustment counselor for fiscal years 2025 and 2026.
School administration requested $140,000 for an adjustment counselor for FY25 and FY26, $70,000 per year, which the Select Board approved during the meeting.
The funding was proposed to be from the opioid settlement funds which provide for a variety of activities including youth prevention of high risk behavior. South Hadley has received $313,000 of its expected $1.2 million.
Superintendent Mark McLaughlin talked about how this position can be tied into the opiod settlement funds. He said one of the goals of the opioid settlement funds is prevention.
McLaughlin said, “We know through hard data over years is that students with untreated social emotional challenges turn to drugs and alcohol or any kind of controlled substance as a means to deal with those challenges. The provision of an adjustment counselor is in line with the funds get at the root cause and support it.”
Town Administrator Lisa Wong said this idea of prevention among youths, supporting youth and specific conversation about adding an adjustment counselor has been discussed for over a year.
“It’s certainly a conversation that the schools have had internally for a lot longer than that. I think it was first brought to [the Select Board’s] attention when we had the conversation earlier this year about both proactive and preventive staffing needs specifically at the high school but this really supports all grades,” she added.
In a letter to the Select Board and School Committee in October 2023, an additional adjustment counselor was discussed to help focus on the mental health of students.
There is currently one adjustment counselor that was added to the high school in January 2022, specifically for the transitional therapeutic classroom program, as the increased need for support from a clinician rose above the capacity that the staffing level could currently support.
The letter also highlighted incidents involving students in the transitional therapeutic classroom at South Hadley High School that resulted in significant injuries to multiple staff members and some students.
It cited, “Despite the many proactive steps taken by the town and the schools to address the growing mental health crisis, the incidents this week are the result of a combination of factors that, combined, are contributing to an increasingly unstable environment within that program and the broader school community.”
The letter outlined a need for an assistant principal, classroom program redesign and more clinical support, like an adjustment counselor. At the time, the town only committed to adding an assistant principal position.
McLaughlin said the role of a school counselor is not an unprecedented role and have some in district already but has seen an increase in students’ social emotional learning needs over the last few years.
He added, “We’ve revised our goals around student mental health support. We’ve really tried to acknowledge that the mental health and wellness of students is a significant factor in their ability to access their education which is our number one priority.”
The adjustment counselor can support students in their mental health challenges, according to McLaughlin and that this position can be beneficial in specifically the middle school in a tiered three support role.
Tier three is intensive support for students needing an increased level of intervention, according to McLaughlin.
He added, “This would be aimed at providing that level of intervention to middle school students. It doesn’t mean they don’t have access to the classroom and all the curriculum around social emotional learning but for students with particularly challenging social emotional issues, this counselor would be in support of them.”
This move is to get ahead of issues and be proactive instead of being reactive.
McLaughlin added that the Opioid Settlement funds will help start the position but added that the hope is to continue the full-time position within the school budget in two years.
