By Ron Allen, Hurricane Breeze Newspaper
PUTNAM COUNTY, W.Va. — The February 13 meeting of the Putnam County Commission featured announcements which included the projected opening of Bridge To Hope Academy in Nitro, updates on county water projects, and excess levies which will appear on the May Primary ballot for voter approval.
Bridge To Hope Academy is a micro school that will serve 9th to 12th grade students who are in recovery from substance abuse disorder. The school is the first recovery high school in West Virginia. Tina Ramirez told the commissioners that Bridge To Hope will provide peer support to students in recovery, give families support through counseling and services, and help students graduate. Ramirez said, “We have been working to look at the overdoses throughout West Virginia and have identified about 1,500 kids under 18 years that have overdosed.”
The school will be located in a building owned by Community Bridge of St. Albans. Initial plans call for 3 to 5 students who will follow home school curriculum guidelines. There are approximately one hundred recovery high schools scattered throughout the United States. Ramirez said that West Virginia students have, in the past, attended recovery high schools in other states and then been re-enrolled in the same schools where they were introduced to dangerous drugs.
Ramirez asked the commission to consider supporting Bridge To Hope. Commissioner Andy Skidmore directed County Attorney Larry Frye to review guidelines which have been issued for using opioid settlement funds which the county has received.
