As the Fredonia school board continues to iron out their budget heading into next year, one item discussed was the addition of a middle school guidance counselor.

As discussed by the board, Fredonia Superintendent Dr. Bradley Zilliox and Business Administrator John Forbes, the need for the additional counselor has been in discussion for quite some time, and is now working its way through the ledger. “Mr. Forbes and I had a chance to chat with all the building principals and talk about the needs for this year, and what we see as being essential to providing a quality program,” Dr. Zilliox said.

The need originated several years ago, when fifth-graders moved up to the middle school. Counselor caseloads were never re-adjusted based on that, leaving a disparity in workload between the High School and Middle School counselors.

“If you compare the caseload between the middle school and high school, the middle school has one person and the high school has two,” Dr. Zilliox said. “So there’s an inequity there. It started when the shift to the middle school model occurred, and it was never righted.”

With a higher emphasis on social, emotional, and mental health at Fredonia Central School District and really every school district, the Fredonia School Board is now trying to give kids additional resources for assistance. With around 400 students the middle school counselor has to connect with, adding a second person would help even out the caseload.

The Fredonia School Board will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, which will replace their meeting that was scheduled for April 27. The meeting was moved to approve the school’s budget, while also holding the vote for the 2021-22 BOCES Administrative Budget.