Schools feeling effects of opioid crisis
School administrators are seeing the effects of the opioid crisis up close and personal.
“Clearly, the system is broken,” Academy School Principal Andy Paciulli told the Brattleboro Town School Board at a meeting earlier this month after describing a week of disturbing incidents that led to investigations by the Vermont Department of Children and Families, reformer.com wrote.
One student came to school with a needle filled with heroin.
“It was inadvertently left by an adult,” said Paciulli.
Two ‘very young’ students could have been violated by a man on the registered sex offender list, he said. The man was babysitting them.
Three kids were removed from a home after they were found to be living in ‘squalor’ with no food, Paciulli said. DCF puts a priority on reuniting families, he added later.
Paciulli said cases like these are happening with great frequency in Brattleboro schools.
“These are severe but we deal with levels like this almost daily,” he said.
“This was in one week’s time. I know in each of the schools, this is what’s going on. In every single case, drug addiction plays a significant role. It’s not an excuse but it certainly plays a significant role.”
Being instructional leaders and doing fun things with the kids, he said, “gets pushed to the side a bit because we have to deal with this on a regular basis”.
The stories came as no shock to Green Street School Principal Mark Speno. That same week, he said, two children were removed from a residence where “a friend was busted for 3,500 bags of heroin, a loaded gun, a lot of cash, crack and cocaine in the closet of their home”.
Oak Grove Principal Jeri Curry said school officials are now trained to be informed and sensitive to trauma.
“That’s work I’m sure none of us did five years ago,” she said, noting that programming is in place to help students in families struggling with addiction.
A social worker position at Academy School is now funded by the Brattleboro Town School District after annual Representative Town Meeting in March. A grant paid for such work last year.
Social worker Jody Mattulke is charged with creating a safe environment and trust within the school community. She trains staff to recognize sexual abuse and harassment. She provides support to students experiencing trauma. She works with foster and surrogate families. She also refers families to services and programs.
Windham Southeast Supervisory Union Superintendent Lyle Holiday told the Reformer the social worker can help students “with everything from medical appointments, accessing community services, to families being more involved at school”.
“I only see this need increasing as more families struggle,” she said.
“We have incredible needs due to the opiate issues in the area.”
Holiday said nurses, counselors and classroom teachers work every day to provide what students need while professional development prepares teachers for helping kids.