Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Student Health topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Counselors present MIYHS results showing mixed trends in student mental health and substance use
Summary
Middle- and high-school counselors presented results from the Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey showing some improvements in mental‑health help‑seeking and nutrition, continuing concerns about vaping and marijuana access, and district plans to expand prevention and crisis-response programs.
Marshwood school counselors on Tuesday presented district results from the Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey (MIYHS), describing modest improvements in some measures of student wellbeing alongside persistent substance‑use risks.
Kathleen Maring, a middle‑school counselor, told the board that 148 seventh‑grade and 142 eighth‑grade students participated in the district sample and highlighted the district’s local interventions. "We had 9% of students report they have used an electronic vapor product," Maring said, noting that figure rose from 4.5% in 2023. She described the district’s three‑meeting intervention model for students and said the school will implement the SOS (Signs of Suicide) program in health classes next year.
The presentation included other middle‑school figures: 2.7% reported drinking alcohol in the past 30 days (down from 3.3% in 2023), 13.6% reported marijuana use, and 4.9% said they had been offered, sold, or given drugs on school property (down from 6.8% in 2023). Maring also said 90% of middle‑school students reported feeling safe at the school and 79.2% agreed at least one adult at school cares about them.
Caitlyn Lebeth, a high‑school counselor, summarized the high‑school MIYHS results from 413 respondents and connected those numbers to school counseling work. "61.4% of Marshwood High School students reported they feel like they mattered to people in their community," Lebeth said, noting an increase from about 46.5% in 2023. She reported declines in several substance‑use measures: 24.8% of students reported electronic vapor product use (down from 30.4% in 2023), 16.9% reported drinking alcohol in the past 30 days (down from 23.8%), and 4.7% reported being drunk or high at school at least once (down from 9.7%).
Lebeth described ongoing and planned responses: continuation of the three‑meeting intervention model, in‑person SERP (student reintegration) classes, expanded wellness programming, further training for counselors and support staff in substance‑use prevention, and work with NAMI Maine on a district crisis protocol. She said the high school has begun lunchtime wellness tables and other culture‑building efforts to encourage students to connect off screens.
Board members asked where to find the full report; counselors said the district has the full MIYHS data available through the superintendent’s office and that the summary slides and budget materials are posted on the district website. The presentation concluded with invitations to the district wellness summit on May 7 and planned staff training sessions.
Why it matters: The MIYHS is a biennial statewide survey used by Maine schools to track youth health behaviors; the data drive local prevention and intervention planning. Marshwood counselors said the results show progress in some areas but underline continuing needs for prevention, staff training and crisis protocol work.
