Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Council puts $100,000 toward school for students battling addiction

The Las Vegas City Council today threw its support and $100,000 behind a new public high school for students overcoming drug addiction.

The school, which the Clark County School Board unanimously approved last month, is designed to provide about 100 students with a learning environment structured around the needs of adolescents in recovery.

“We’ll provide support where they can thrive and where they can flourish,” Clark County School District Associate Superintendent Jeff Horn said. “Right now, they are dropping out of school, ending up in institutions or dying.”

Students will have access to four drug counselors, who are being funded by the state Department of Health and Human Services, as well as standard school counselors.

As part of their enrollment, students must take part in family counseling and undergo random drug testing. It will be free to attend the school, and transportation can be arranged in coordination with the district’s magnet school programs.

The so-called recovery high school is scheduled to open for the 2017-18 school year.

Funding for the school, located at the former Biltmore Continuation High School near Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue, will come from the School District. The School Board has already allocated $825,525 for renovations.

The $100,000 from the City Council will go mostly toward beautification efforts, including painting, murals, a learning garden and a meditation center.

“This is a moment in time when we’re saying something very important about our community,” Councilman Steve Ross said. “That stigma (of drug addiction) — we need to get over that. Addiction has affected so many families at every level of income. This says volumes about CCSD and the city of Las Vegas moving forward to save a child’s life.”