The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Schools join fight against addiction
Opioids take center stage at summit
Lorain County’s school leaders say they are lining up with health and safety agencies to fight the opioid epidemic.
On May 15, local superintendents talked about heroin addiction and how the problem affects students as they try to learn their reading, writing and arithmetic.
The schools are developing programs to convince students to stay away from the drugs, said Elyria City Schools Superintendent Thomas Jama and Keystone Local School District Superintendent Franco Gallo.
But, there are consequences because students must deal with addiction when their parents or friends become hooked on opioids, they said.
They and their staff were the keynote speakers at the fifth annual Lorain County Superintendent Summit hosted by the Lorain County Chamber of
Commerce and presented by the Stocker Foundation at Lorain County Community College.
Across the nation, more than 1 million children are in the care of their grandparents because their parents are dying due to opioid overdoses, said Lorain County Educational Service Center Superintendent Greg Ring.
Ring cited the figure from the recent report from the CBS news program “60 Minutes.”
Like many others, Lorain County schools are facing this crisis, he said.
The group heard from Dr. Donald Sheldon, who is leading the Philanthropic and Community Coalition to End the Opioid Epidemic.
It is a public health effort sponsored by the Nord Family Foundation, the Community Foundation of Lorain County and the Black River Education and Wellness Foundation.
Dr. Kathleen Kern, executive director of the Lorain County Board of Mental Health; and Elaine Georgas, executive director of the Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services Board of Lorain County, also talked about their agencies efforts with school districts on preventing drug use.
They said those agencies want to work with schools to prevent students from experimenting with drugs.
Starting in 2016, Elyria Schools began hitting the issue hard, said Jama, who spoke with Pupil Services Director Denise Blatt and Communications Director Amy Higgins.
The school district has created the video, “Heroin: Your First Time May Be Your Last.”
It has been shown to students with the participants in the video available to talk, including Elyria police Chief Duane Whitely and Lorain County Drug Task Force Detective Gregg Mehling.
Elyria High School will add staff training and two counselors next year, with hopes of adding two licensed social workers to work with students, Blatt said.
Some people may view
Keystone Schools as a rich, preppy, rural district in Lagrange and southern Lorain County, Gallo said.
“But I’m here to tell you, that these things are very real,” he said. “This is not just an urban school problem; this is happening everywhere.”
Keystone High School Principal James Kohler and counselors Meghann Redd and Alyssa Schwedt presented composite profiles of students who are at risk of failing in school because they are dealing with addicted parents.
Ring also presented information about “A New Vision for Ohio Education.”
The premise grew out of a conference of 30 superintendents who agreed on a shared set of tenets for school districts.
The purpose: “In partnership with their local communities, strong public schools educate all students to achieve individual success so they can become contributing citizens.”
There are eight core beliefs about education that have been shared with the Business Advisory Council of the Educational Service Center of Lorain County.
The beliefs emphasize diversity, equity and the need for local control in education.
Ring has published an online survey for people to offer feedback about the beliefs and purpose statement.