City to open high school that aids sobriety
Boston finally has a home for the city's first high school for students who are recovering from drug and alcohol abuse.
After a year of searching, Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey announced plans yesterday for the new school at 19 Temple Place, near Boston Common and several bus and subway routes. Students, perhaps a dozen from Boston and surrounding areas, are expected to enroll in the school starting in late October, state officials said.
The school is the state's third for students with serious drug and alcohol problems. Last week, Beverly opened a school with about 15 students, and Springfield started another with about six students. Each school is designed to accommodate up to 50 students, offering a refuge from the peer pressure in regular high schools to drink or use drugs.
``This gives kids a chance to succeed," said Healey, a gubernatorial candidate who helped launch the project more than a year ago. ``This is a critical opportunity to let these kids get their lives back on track."
Like the other two schools, the school will offer regular classes and MCAS testing. But students must also commit to sobriety. The school will have a full-time counselor in addition to teachers and other staff and will be run by ABCD Inc., a longtime nonprofit in Boston that links students with summer jobs and other services.
The school will be named the William J. Ostiguy Recovery High School, in honor of the 58-year-old Boston fire lieutenant who worked with Healey, Boston city officials, and state Senator Steven A. Tolman, a Brighton Democrat, to bring the sobriety high schools to Massachusetts. Mayor Thomas M. Menino backed the plan.
Ostiguy, who runs the Fire Department's Employee Assistance Program, said he noted the need for a recovery high school about six years ago when parents sought help for children with drug problems. He helped the children get treatment, but grew frustrated when the students relapsed upon returning to school. ``We were putting them right back into the environment they would use in," he said.
Academics are the focus of the high schools, modeled after similar educational facilities in Minnesota. But each day will begin and end with a 15-minute meeting to check on students and their recovery. A daily class will offer support, such as teaching students to spot behavior that could trigger a relapse.
Students must have a recovery plan, such as attending regular Alcoholics Anonymous meetings on their own time. Students also must be sober 30 days to enroll.
Ostiguy, a recovering alcoholic who has been sober for 35 years, said he was humbled to have the school named after him.
``Some kids are going to get some help that never would have got it," he said. ``I could have used it 40 years ago."
The schools will be financed for the next five years with state grants, about $750,000 a school in start-up funds, and $500,000 a year for four years. Boston will provide teachers but will not oversee the school.
