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Mayors, recovery‑school advocates ask for full $12.7 million to expand recovery high schools statewide
Summary
Advocates, superintendents and community members urged full funding for Oregon Recovery High Schools in the SB 5515 hearing, saying recovery schools improve attendance, graduation and long‑term outcomes for adolescents with substance‑use disorders.
Local officials, recovery‑school advocates and educators urged lawmakers to fully fund the Oregon recovery high schools allocation in SB 5515, telling the committee that the evidence shows large benefits for students in treatment and recovery.
Anne Hyatt, chair of the Oregon Recovery High School Initiative and a Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation board member, said the Oregon Department of Education requested $12,700,000 to support three existing recovery schools and add additional schools in rural and underserved areas. “Adolescents with substance use disorder who attend a recovery high school are up to four times more likely to be abstinent from drugs and alcohol than those who attend a traditional high school,” Hyatt said, citing research presented to the committee.
Tony Mann, founder of the Oregon Recovery High School Initiative and superintendent of Molalla River School District, called SB 5515 implementation “the promise made to these kids and their families” after House Bill 2767 created the framework to open regionally distributed recovery schools. Mann and Sandy Stack of Southern Oregon ESD said the governor’s recommended budget would cut ODE’s recovery‑school funding and leave rural areas without access to the model, despite high local need.
Travis Stovall, mayor of Gresham, described a local MOPI (Multnomah Outreach, Prevention and Intervention) violence prevention partnership funded through the Youth Development Division and asked for continued or increased investment in youth development grants that help prevent violence and connect youth to services — testimony that framed recovery schools as part of a broader youth‑support ecosystem.
Todd Nicholson, principal of Rivercrest Academy Recovery School in Portland, described recovery schools as “safe havens” where students battling substance use find stability and academic support. He asked lawmakers to “significantly increase the funding for existing recovery schools” and to fund promised new schools outside the Willamette Valley.
Speakers warned that proposed budget cuts would undermine recent bipartisan commitments (House Bill 2767) and leave adolescents in rural communities with fewer options. They asked legislators to fund recovery schools at the full $12,700,000 requested by ODE so planned regional expansion can proceed.
