Monday, August 16, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

School offers sobering haven

Students in recovery provided drug-free campus environment

Principal Richard Adler wants prospective students to be clear on what the newly created Peterson Sober Drug-Free School of Choice is and isn't.

It's not a behavior program for students who can't act appropriately in a classroom.

It's not a treatment center for teenagers who are trying to kick a drug habit.

What it is, Adler said, is a campus where students in recovery from substance abuse can attend school in an environment that is drug-free.

It's a setting where students will be held accountable for their choices by submitting to random drug testing.

And it's a place where daily counseling will be offered to help them stay on a drug-free path.

"We don't have anything even close to this in Clark County at this time," Adler said. "But we really have to have something for these kids, and I think it's high time we did."

Adler is now interviewing students and parents for the 80 available slots in the Clark County School District's newest alternative education program.

As of last week, more than 10 families had expressed interest in the program, which will open later this month at the district's Peterson Center, located next to Centennial High School in the district's Northwest Region.

It's a pilot program modeled after one at Thoreau High School in Los Angeles, where the students are recovering addicts committed to staying clean. Edward Goldman, associate superintendent of education services, and Adler both visited Thoreau last spring to see if the sober school could be replicated in Las Vegas.

"The drug problem in Clark County is horrendous," Goldman said. "We've got to stop burying our heads in the sand and pretending it doesn't exist."

In 2003-04, preliminary reports show the district's school police department made 450 arrests for possession of controlled substances on and around area campuses.

There were 34 arrests made for possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute. Those numbers, Goldman said, are evidence that normal high schools are not drug-free zones, and that teenagers trying to overcome addictions may stray into temptation when they return to school after completing treatment programs.

"All we offer them now is punitive," Goldman said. "If you get caught using drugs at school, you're out. But this program isn't geared to punish kids, it offers them counseling and a chance to finish their educations. A lot of these kids are very good students, and the key is to keep them clean."

Goldman said that the sober school program is being opened without additional funding from the district. It will share staffing with the Peterson Center, which is an alternative high school program. The northwest site was chosen because it had the available space.

Those who wish to attend the sober school will have to sign a contract that requires them to:

• Have been free of drugs or alcohol for at least 30 days before enrollment.

• Submit to random urinalysis testing. Refusal to do so will be considered a reason for dismissal from the program.

• Participate in a modified 12-step program during the school day, three times per week.

Goldman said the program will be evaluated by tracking the students who enroll in the sober school and monitoring their progress and the turnover rates. A report will be made to the school board next year on the sober school's performance.

"The kids in the program in Los Angeles all said that school was their biggest problem," Goldman said. "They were afraid to go back to their regular high schools because they wouldn't be accepted by the kids they used to hang out with who did drugs. And they were also afraid that the kids who didn't do drugs wouldn't accept them because they used to do drugs."

The sober school, Goldman said, eliminates the social pressures and requires students to live up to their commitments to remain drug-free. The program will be expanded at other sites if it proves to be successful, Goldman said.

Keith Schwer, director of UNLV's Center for Business and Economic Research, which includes the Nevada KIDS COUNT project, said that data shows substance abuse is a problem for Silver State teens. Nevada's 2001 Youth Risk Behavior Survey showed that 36 percent of high school students said they had been offered, sold or given illegal drugs while on school property. One area where Nevada is always rated poorly in national reviews is in teen issues, Schwer said.

"I hope this works," Schwer said. "I think this is a case where the district can clearly do something positive."

Those interested in attending the sober school program can contact Adler at 799-6610.