Anne Arundel County schools Superintendent George Arlotto is seeking $1.4 million in his proposed budget for the coming year to boost the system’s ranks of counselors, psychologists and social workers to meet the needs of what he calls a “more diverse student population than ever before.”

Arlotto and others say there’s a growing need for mental health services. Data from the school system indicates that the number of students who have threatened to harm themselves has more than doubled in the past five years. School officials tracked 1,126 incidents of students threatening self-harm during the 2012-2013 school year. That number jumped to 2,370 last school year.

“We’ve talked for several years about the growing social and emotional needs of our students and the fact that we are seeing more extreme behavioral issues and at younger ages than ever before,” Arlotto said.

His recommended fiscal year 2020 budget includes the $1.4 million for seven school counselors, three psychologists and three social workers. The Board of Education’s own budget proposal had requested 14 school counselors, six psychologists and eight social workers. Then-county executive Steve Schuh’s budget made room for 4.5 of those positions.

Funding gaps have made it difficult for school officials to keep up with the district’s demands, Arlotto said.

The new budget request represents a step in a multiyear process to hire staff and deploy enough resources to make up for denied funding requests that occurred during and after the 2008 recession.

The superintendent is seeking nearly 300 new positions in his budget. If funded, three of the counselors will be deployed at elementary schools, two will be staffed at middle schools and two will go to county high schools.

Every school in Anne Arundel County currently has at least one counselor, said Bob Mosier, a county schools spokesman.

Mental health emerged as a school board campaign issue in the months leading up to the 2018 election. Candidates promised to make mental health a priority for the district and underscored the need to hire more professionals.

Board member Melissa Ellis was among them. She said the superintendent’s recommendation is “not ambitious enough.”

“We do need more, I do want to see more, and I do intend to look where we can move things around to get what we need,” she said. “I absolutely believe we need to get to the level that is recommended, as far as 250 students per counselor. I know we’re way, way off of that.”

llumpkin@capgaznews.com