Proposed high school in Hampton Roads would build on anti-drug successes elsewhere

Carolyn Weems, a Virginia Beach School Board member, with her daughter Caitlyn. The younger Weems died of a drug overdose in 2013 at age 21. Carolyn Weems advocates the formation of a recovery academy in South Hampton Roads for high school students battling substance abuse. (Photo courtesy of Carolyn Weems)

Andrew Finch, who’s worked at and evaluated “recovery” high schools for more than a quarter century, has some advice for administrators who want to open such a sanctuary for teenagers battling substance abuse in South Hampton Roads:

Create a school that’s distinct from the general population of students – and possibly in a separate building altogether. Keep the enrollment to no more than about 30 students at a time. Invite hospitals, colleges and other institutions to share their expertise and resources.

Another thing: “People often forget they are schools,” said Finch, a professor at Vanderbilt University and a co-founder of the Association of Recovery Schools , a nonprofit group based in Pennsylvania. Students are “working on high school diplomas, credits, preparing for college, the workforce. … A best practice is they have to provide a solid academic curriculum.”

Opening such specialized schools is a serious, possibly expensive project. However, it’s one that educational officials should undertake if they plan smartly.

School divisions and their larger communities are helping to rehabilitate young people at a critical time in their lives – and these academies might make the difference in keeping students clean. Costs shouldn’t be ignored; neither should the fact these schools fight alcohol and drug abuse among teenagers.

Virginia Beach School Board members are weighing such an initiative, and they’ve already identified some public funding. They are leading an effort that could comprise public school students in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Suffolk.

Carolyn Weems, a longtime Virginia Beach School Board member, is a key proponent. It’s also very personal to her, since Weems lost her 21-year-old daughter Caitlyn to a drug overdose in 2013 .

While in high school, Caitlyn Weems had a soccer injury; she broke her nose and lost three teeth. She became addicted to pain medicine and had taken Oxycontin and Percocet at various times, the elder Weems told me.

“It’s unbelievable how much medicine she was on,” Weems said, noting much of it was prescribed by doctors. “It was so hard to get her help.”

The General Assembly approved $750,000 over two years for a recovery academy in the region. Virginia Beach also has committed $500,000 from the state settlement with JUUL, the e-cigarette brand , involving the firm’s marketing and sales practices.

Other details about the proposed academy, though, haven’t been decided. They include how much money each city would contribute; where the academy would be located; and how transportation would be worked out.

Loudoun County is also considering a recovery high school. Such schools have been around for decades , though they’ve generally been clustered in about half of the states. The academies often do random drug testing to ensure the students adhere to the rules.

The National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics reports that 9% of all 12- to 17-year-olds in Virginia used alcohol in the past month, and 7% of the age group reported using drugs. One bright spot: Teenagers in the commonwealth were 16.5% less likely to have used drugs in the past month than the average American teen.

Hampton Roads’ developing plan will study the Chesterfield Recovery Academy as a possible model. The academy opened in August 2022,  and is a regional effort headed by Chesterfield Public Schools. It’s the first recovery school in the state, and Chesterfield’s is one of about 45 such schools nationwide. The General Assembly contributed nearly $1.4 million to help start the Chesterfield academy .

“A recovery school is a good asset for any school division,” Justin Savoy, Chesterfield academy program coordinator, told me. “Unfortunately, the ease of access to drugs and alcohol has increased a lot for students.”

The school takes up to 50 students but often has just 20, said Savoy, whose professional background is in mental health and substance abuse. The staff includes two academic facilitators, three clinicians and a peer recovery specialist, who is someone often maintaining sobriety. A white retriever named Lettie, a therapy dog, is part of the staff and encourages calm. Enrollment requires students to have abstained from drugs and alcohol for at least 20 days.

This past spring, 10 students graduated, he said.

Savoy and two of his students participated in a White House panel on recovery strategies in 2023. “There’s a lot of times when my recovery was impossible,” Michael Spain told the audience . “I spent the time. I put in the work.” He said he was scheduled to join the military this year, to the cheers of attendees.

Michael Durchslag is director of the P.E.A.S.E. Academy in Minneapolis , and he’s been at the recovery school since 1995. “Many of the schools operate on a shoestring budget,” he told me, but added, “they are needed resources.”

Nor are they panaceas. Some students, Durchslag said, would be better treated in other settings that offer different services.

What they represent is hope, for students and parents alike. That a teen might kick the habit and stay that way. That he’ll have support when he thinks about backsliding.

That kind of school “would have been perfect for Caitlyn,” said Weems, the school board member.

It’s worth the effort to begin the academy, she added. “The things we’re doing now aren’t working.”

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