The future of the Northshore Recovery High School is at risk. It is in our best interest to do all we can to save it. The kids served by the school deserve nothing less as the region and the country continue to struggle their way out of a deep, prolonged opioid addiction epidemic.
The Northshore Recovery High School, of course, doesn’t focus only on helping those dealing with opioids. But it first came to the region’s attention at an intense chapter of the epidemic, when it became clear the highly addictive painkillers were killing people and ruining lives without deference to demographics.
It didn’t matter where you came from, or how much money your family had, or how smart you were. Once a drug like OxyContin had its hooks in you, it wasn’t going to let go easily.
The school was founded by Michelle Lipinski in September of 2006, just as opioid addiction began to take hold in the region. The school focuses on students aged 14 to 21 from 20 local school districts, and has deftly balanced treatment for substance abuse and mental health issues with education for almost 20 years. Successfully so, we might add.
“(Addiction) is a potentially life-threatening disease, so we need to support a place where all these children can heal and learn,” said Lipinksi, who has served as the school’s principal since it opened.
“I just think that people don’t see it, like they don’t understand how important it is to have a space where children can heal and feel supported and loved,” she added.
The school is in danger of being shut down as expenses are far outstripping state investment in the school. That has always been the case.
Tuition is paid by districts sending students to the school, which is located on the Northshore Education Consortium campus on Sohier Road in Beverly.
That funding is supposed to be supplemented by state grants. But that grant hasn’t changed since the school was founded almost two decades ago. It was the first of its kind in the state (there are now five) and was lauded by politicians from North of Boston and beyond as a smart, compassionate and effective way to help kids struggling with addiction.
And the number of students can change from year to year, making it difficult to budget. In fiscal year 2020, there were 55. The current enrollment is 32.
Meanwhile, state law bars the school from setting its own tuition rates or charging member districts for transportation costs, noted Consortium Executive Director Francine Rosenberg.
“There is no mechanism for funding for capital needs or infrastructure,” she said. “The (Consortium) has to assume all of the financial risk, and utilize surplus from our other special education programs to cover the deficit. I think because of those concerns, it’s created a of lot anxiety about what this means long term, and the board has not made any decisions beyond the 2025-26 school year.”
The region’s representatives at the Statehouse have expressed concern, but that is the least they can do.
The opioid epidemic is still with us.
Nationwide, there were 107,543 drug overdose deaths in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s down 3% from the 111,029 deaths in 2022. And in Massachusetts, there were 2,125 confirmed opioid-related overdoses in 2023, a 10% drop from the previous year.
That’s good news. But it doesn’t happen with proven programs like the North Shore Recovery High School.
It’s time for the state to renew its investment.