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Harbor Hope regional recovery school moves toward opening, steering committee cites $2.4 million potential funding
Summary
Virginia Beach staff told the school board their regional steering committee has secured city commitments and a competitive grant submission that together could bring more than $2.4 million to establish a Harbor Hope recovery school; MOUs and bylaws are still drafts and the opening timeline depends on partners' final approvals.
The Virginia Beach School Board received an update April 22 on the Harbor Hope Center, a proposed regional recovery school for students with substance-use disorders and related needs. Robert Jamieson, executive director for student support services, told the board the Regional Steering Committee has completed key milestones and submitted a cooperative grant application.
Jamieson said the five participating school divisions (Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach) secured commitments of direct opioid abatement settlement funds from four cities totaling $220,000 each, with Chesapeake providing in-kind site and services valued at more than $120,000 annually. The four-city direct settlement total of $880,000 is intended to be combined with a projected cooperative grant of roughly $1.5 million to create a program pool that could exceed $2.4 million "if awarded," Jamieson said.
The committee also obtained recognition from the Virginia Board of Education that allowed the project to move forward conceptually, Jamieson said; the project is structured like a regional school but the board of education will study and further clarify the formal joint-school authority during its upcoming review. Jamieson said bylaws and an inter-district memorandum of understanding have been drafted and are under legal review; attachments covering technology, food services and operations are still being finalized.
Board members pressed staff on the timetable and execution risk. Board member Pamela Rogers asked whether MOUs have been executed; staff replied that MOUs are in the final draft stage and that some divisions (Norfolk in particular) want to review the full MOU before approving it. Jamieson said that Chesapeake's in-kind commitment and other city approvals were important to secure early and that the steering committee expects to hire a program coordinator once the governing board is formalized; that coordinator would lead staffing, clinical partnerships and enrollment to aim for an opening in the 2025-26 school year, though Jamieson said an August 2025 start could not be guaranteed until final agreements are in place.
Jamieson described other operational work in progress: enrollment protocols, mandatory drug-testing policy, room selection, furniture purchases and food-service agreements. The committee is working with Chesapeake Integrated Behavioral Health to provide clinical services through a formal MOU that Jamieson said remains under legal drafting.
Why it matters: the Harbor Hope Center would serve students with high clinical needs across the region and would be financed by a mix of opioid settlement funds and grant awards. Steering-committee leaders told the board they believe their proposal is competitive and would support a specialized program serving students from multiple districts.
What remains: MOUs and bylaws must be finalized and approved by participating school boards and city councils, and grant award decisions remain pending. Jamieson told the board legal and operational refinements are likely during this spring and summer; if partners alter commitments, Jamieson said the regional plan would be adjusted and the board would be notified of budget or timeline changes.
Ending: Board members thanked staff for pursuing a regionally coordinated recovery option and said they want to see final documents before any contracts or staffing commitments are executed.
