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Town and schools discuss restoring student‑assistance coordinator and prevention programs
Summary
Officials discussed collaborating to restore a student assistance coordinator (SAC), host the Every 15 Minutes simulation and a Chris Herron assembly, and to use VMAC and joint grant writing to fund sustained prevention work.
Town and school officials used the March 25 joint meeting to highlight youth substance‑use prevention as an area for joint investment. Board members and the mayor noted the district once had a full‑time student assistance coordinator (SAC) and that position had been discontinued; administrators said restoring or funding a SAC would require new revenue or grants.
Speakers described planned prevention events: the district will host a Chris Herron presentation April 2–3 (a speaker who survived addiction and now works on prevention), and the board discussed the Every 15 Minutes simulation as a high‑impact but staff‑intensive program. VMAC (the Verona Municipal Alliance Committee) was identified as a potential funding partner; the board said VMAC's next budgeting meeting is March 31 and that its annual contribution is modest (around $16,000).
Council members offered to explore grant applications, suggested using the district's grant‑writing consultant to pursue municipal grants and noted that policing and reporting changes have complicated school‑police information sharing. No formal budget commitments were made at the meeting; leaders asked grant teams and VMAC liaisons to return with program proposals and cost estimates.
