WSJ: Despite growing opioid epidemic, Wisconsin has only one recovery school

David Wahlberg | Wisconsin State Journal - On a recent morning at Horizon High School in Madison, students calculated the volume of prisms, formed clay into models of sedimentary rocks and read aloud a modern English version of “Hamlet,” engaging in a vigorous discussion of whether Ophelia died by accident or suicide.

There were no bells, lockers or crowded hallways, and no peer pressure to use drugs or drink alcohol. Horizon, which opened in 2005 and has a dozen students so far this year, is a recovery school, where students who have substance use or mental health disorders strive to be sober.

Despite the growing opioid epidemic and record numbers of opioid overdose deaths last year in Wisconsin and in the U.S. — some of which were among teens — Horizon is the only recovery school in the state and one of just 45 nationwide. Funding for the resource-intensive schools is a challenge, as is unpredictable attendance, authorities say.

“It’s been tough going,” said John Fournelle, board president and a co-founder of private, nonprofit Horizon, noting that fundraising is constantly required to meet the budget, which this year is $523,000.

Some recovery schools around the country have folded because it’s hard to know how many students will show up regularly, given the unsettled nature of their lives, said Andrew Finch, co-founder of the Association of Recovery Schools.

“It’s difficult to maintain because your enrollment is fluctuating so much,” said Finch, a professor and education policy expert at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Some struggling recovery schools get absorbed by alternative high schools, with mixed results, Finch said. Traci Goll, Horizon director, said the environment of a recovery school is distinct from that of mainstream or alternative schools.

“There needs to be a safe place where kids can go, where they’re all like-minded and they all know: We’re here because we need to be sober,” Goll said. “There will be no drugs or alcohol here, or glorifying of it. If a student is having a rough day, they’re not going to have a classmate say, ‘Let’s go use.’”

Wisconsin had three recovery schools more than a decade ago, before schools in Janesville and Waukesha closed.

Carrie Kulinski, who headed up Community Recovery Education and Service, or CRES, Academy, in Janesville, found grants and sold a curriculum she developed to support the school, a charter in the Janesville School District. But the money dried up and the district didn’t want to take on the cost, she said.

The school, which opened in 2008, closed in 2011.

“It was a funding issue,” Kulinski said. “The grants that we had that paid for a lot of it went away.”

Project Change, a charter in the Waukesha School District, opened in 2002. The School Board voted in 2013 to dissolve the school because of its cost and because no Waukesha students were attending, according to the district.

In 2017, a state law authorized a $50,000 start-up grant to start a recovery school chartered by the University of Wisconsin System, but no proposals have been submitted.

Nancy Meyer, a board member of Horizon, said $50,000 “is totally inadequate to start a school.”

Madison district support

Since 2014, Horizon has had some financial stability through a contract with the Madison School District, which pays to send up to 15 students to Horizon per year. But the district’s per-pupil payment, $7,600, is less than Horizon’s $12,000 tuition and its estimated cost of $35,000 per student, Fournelle said.

Horizon and the district are discussing a higher payment, Goll said. Other districts pay to send students there, including Middleton-Cross Plains and Wisconsin Heights, which have students at Horizon this year.

Horizon aims to have about 15 students and has had up to 18, Goll said. Two may be joining in the coming weeks, which would put this year’s enrollment at 14.

The students undergo random drug tests once a week, with fentanyl showing up on a few tests last year for the first time. “That’s an immediate parent phone call, because it can kill you,” Goll said.

Of more than 200 students who have attended Horizon since it started, roughly half have graduated, Goll said. She considers that to be an impressive proportion, given that most of the students have numerous challenges in their lives, often including trauma, and rarely went to or dropped out of other schools.

In addition to Goll, Horizon has two teachers, a substance abuse counselor and three special education assistants, one of whom is part-time.

Small and supportive

A food pantry, a kitchen and a washer and dryer can be found along with classrooms at Horizon, which in May 2021 moved to a new location near Whitney Way and University Avenue. It’s the sixth site since the school started in the basement of Advent Lutheran Church on Madison’s West Side.

“Escape the ordinary,” says a sign hanging from one wall. “Everything is as it’s supposed to be,” says another. A large banner displays a multi-colored pie chart labeling eight “sources of strength:” mental health, physical health, spirituality, generosity, healthy activities, mentors, positive friends and family support.

In addition to learning math, English, science and social studies, students participate in group and individual counseling sessions, go to a gym once a week and take “life skills” field trips.

Recent outings have included Olbrich Botanical Gardens and the petting zoo at Eugster’s Farm Market between Oregon and Stoughton. Next month, students will see “Hamlet” at American Players Theatre near Spring Green.

Brooke Wilkes, 15, a sophomore at Horizon, said the similar background of the students makes for an encouraging environment. “Everyone’s there for each other, even if you’re not having a good day,” she said.

Some of the staff are in recovery from substance abuse, which helps, said Alex Katzmann, a 15-year-old sophomore. “They can support you better because they’ve been through it,” she said.

For many students, including 16-year-old Rachel Dinerstein, a sophomore who previously went to Memorial High School, it’s the small size of Horizon that is most beneficial.

“I’m not a big fan of crowds, and Memorial is ginormous,” she said. “It’s easier to get to know everybody here.”

Dinerstein’s two brothers attended Horizon, including Ken Adams, a 2018 graduate who is on the board. After spotty attendance at other schools and a suicide attempt, Adams started at Horizon in 2015. He is now working and going to Madison Area Technical College, with his own car and good friends.

“I don’t think, without Horizon, I would have any of that,” he said in a video on the school’s website. “Horizon was always kind of in my corner, and pushing me to be my best self.”

Goll said many of the students come to Horizon feeling like failures. She and the other staff focus on helping them make good choices to improve their future.

“They’re feeling broken and hopeless,” she said. “We are hope.”