Reading Public Schools · Student support

Nine adjustment counselors. What did the investment accomplish?

Post-pandemic behavioral and social-emotional needs were real. Reading responded with substantial student-support staffing. A fair analysis should measure the outcomes those positions are actually intended to affect—not pretend MCAS alone can tell us whether counseling support worked.

The FY23 investment

Seven adjustment-counselor FTEs were added in FY23.

Reading made a significant investment in student support following the pandemic:

5.0Elementary adjustment counselor/METCO coordinator FTEs

1.0Middle-school adjustment counselor FTE

1.0High-school adjustment counselor FTE

Reading also added a separate 1.0 REACH social worker that year.

These positions were created at a time when students were dealing with very real behavioral, attendance and social-emotional challenges. The question isn't whether those needs existed. They did. The question now is what changed—and what level of staffing Reading needs today.

The five elementary positions were funded jointly through the operating budget and METCO. Funding source does not change the number of positions created.

Start with what's working

Reading's attendance numbers are a success story.

Reading's chronic absenteeism has fallen substantially since the pandemic and is now well below both Melrose and the statewide rate. That's a good result—and an important one.

Year	Reading	Melrose	State
2021	6.9%	7.3%	17.7%
2022	13.0%	17.7%	27.7%
2023	9.2%	12.8%	22.2%
2024	7.6%	11.4%	19.7%
2025	8.1%	10.6%	18.8%
2026	6.8%	9.9%	17.1%

The investment deserves credit.

Reading made a significant investment in student support at a time when attendance, behavioral and social-emotional challenges were very real. Since then, chronic absenteeism has fallen from 13.0% in 2022 to 6.8% in 2026.

We can't know from these numbers alone how much of that improvement came from adjustment counselors. But attendance is exactly the kind of measurable student outcome we should consider when evaluating these positions.

The evidence gives us a reason to value the investment. The next question is whether nine positions remain the right staffing level today.

The next question

How many counselors does Reading need today?

Reading's strong attendance results give us good reason to value its investment in student support. They don't tell us whether nine adjustment counselors are the right number today.

Show us the workload.

How many students does each counselor support? How often are students referred for help? How much time is spent on counseling, crisis response, school avoidance, attendance and behavioral issues? And how does that workload differ from school to school?

Those are the numbers that can tell us whether nine positions are necessary—or whether the same strong support could be provided with a different staffing model.

If the workload supports nine

That's evidence voters should see before deciding how much they're willing to pay to preserve the model.

If needs differ sharply by school

Shared, floating or differentiated staffing may deserve consideration before reductions closer to the classroom.

Sources & notes

The record

Massachusetts DESE · School and District Profiles

Official attendance and chronic-absenteeism data used in this analysis.

Reading Public Schools · FY24 Budget

Staffing additions and budget context for Reading's student-support investment.

Town of Reading · FY28 Override

Current override proposal and projected school-budget impacts.

Value deserves recognition. So does scrutiny.

Reading's attendance results are encouraging. They give us good reason to believe the investment in student support has mattered.

The next step is not to dismiss that success. It's to determine what staffing level is needed to sustain it.

November 3, 2026

PRIORITIES FIRST.
TAXES SECOND.

Measure what works. Examine what it takes to sustain it. Then decide what taxpayers truly need to fund.

Back to priorities