LAKEVILLE — Because of what Superintendent Alan Strauss called a “startling” increase in student visits to the school adjustment counselor, next year’s Freetown-Lakeville School District budget includes plans to hire a second counselor for George R. Austin Intermediate School.

A new counselor “is not a wish or a hope,” George R. Austin Principal Elizabeth Sullivan said. “It’s a priority.”

At a Feb. 15 School Committee meeting, Sullivan said the school adjustment counselor saw 152 students outside of the normal caseload during the 2021-22 school year. The school covers fourth grade and fifth grade for the district.

Sullivan emphasized that students asked to see the counselor in 40% of last year’s 152 cases.

The counselor has seen 117 students outside the normal caseload this year as of Feb. 15. According to Sullivan, 75% of all visits are outside the counselor’s normal caseload.

Adding another counselor will spread out the workload and help the school do a better job of supporting students and staff, Strauss said. He added that the COVID-19 pandemic put a greater emphasis on social-emotional learning, and there is a difference between a teacher familiar with the topic and a counselor trained in the field.

Sullivan said there has been an increase in 504 plans, which register students with disabilities so the school receives the appropriate amount of state funding for special education.

Disabilities recognized by the state include autism, attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and learning disabilities such as dyslexia. 

Impairments exhibited over long periods of time that “adversely affect a student’s educational performance” are also recognized by the state as special education disabilities, according to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Recognized impairments fall into the categories of communication, emotional, health, intellectual, neurological, physical, and sensory.

Sullivan cited the quick transition in and out of the school as one of the reasons behind the increase in 504 plans. Students spend only two school years at George R. Austin Intermediate School.

“It’s a tricky building,” she said. “It’s unusual to have an intermediate level.”

Sullivan indicated that students now deal with more long-term emotional issues than in previous years.

“Kids’ concerns are more significant than their dog dying,” she said.