Middleborough committee approves anonymous youth-risk survey to guide prevention work

The Middleborough School Committee on Feb. 15 unanimously voted to allow administration of a Youth Risk Behavior Survey to high-school students, a data-driven effort presenters said will inform substance-use prevention and mental-health supports.

Principal Paul Branagan introduced partners from High Point, who said the survey — a modified version of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey developed by Kelly Research Associates — is anonymous, takes roughly five to ten minutes to complete and was revised to remove the gender question and add two mental-health items. The presenters said the data would be analyzed by Kelly Research Associates and the school would receive the results; the district would not share individual responses without explicit school-committee approval. "The survey is completely anonymous," one presenter said.

High Point representatives told the committee the work aligns with newly obtained Partnerships for Success (PFS) funding; presenters described the PFS grant funding in the presentation as involving $375,000 per year for five years to support substance-use prevention and mental-health initiatives in the region. Committee members emphasized a parent-review and opt-out window and asked that the district share the survey instrument and timeline with families before administration. The administration said they plan a review window after February vacation, target a March 12 administration date and will complete the survey before the end of March.

A motion to approve the survey, with the explained opt-out and review provisions and the administration timeline, passed unanimously.

The committee’s approval clears a procedural step so the district and its High Point partners can proceed with distribution and subsequent analysis; staff said they will return results and recommended interventions to the committee once the data are processed.