Dear Parent or Guardian,
We know that you, as your child’s caregiver, desire the best resources for your child and the young people in our Medford community. The Community That Cares Survey, administered every two years to our high school students, consistently demonstrates that some of our grade 9 students try alcohol, marijuana and other drugs and by the end of high school, many more students report substance use.
In January 2016, Governor Baker signed a law that requires public schools to screen students for risk behaviors. This law is named “An Act relative to preventing adolescent substance abuse by expanding SBIRT.” SBIRT refers to a screening questionnaire and stands for Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral to Treatment.
In order to help prevent students from starting to use substances, or to intervene with early substance use, the counseling and nursing staff at McGlynn Middle School will be providing an interview-based screening for all 7th grade students about the use of alcohol, marijuana and other drugs. This screening is based on the most commonly used substance abuse screening tool for adolescents in Massachusetts, the CRAFFT.
Student screening sessions will be brief (approximately 5 minutes) and conducted confidentially in private, one-on-one sessions by the school nurse and counseling staff. Students who are not using substances will have their healthy choices reinforced by the screener. The screener will provide brief feedback to any student who reports using substances or who is at risk for future substance use. If needed, the student will be referred to our counseling staff for further evaluation.
Results of the screening will not be included in your child’s school record, nor will results be shared with any staff other than the SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral to Treatment) Team. The SBIRT Team is composed of the nursing staff, school adjustment counselors and guidance counselors. All students will receive some educational material and a resource list at the time of the screening.
As with any school screening, you have the right to opt your child out of this screening. Please contact Toni Wray, Supervisor of Health Services and SBIRT coordinator, via email twray@medford.k12.ma.us by April 1, 2019 if you wish to exclude your child from this screening. Additionally, screening is voluntary and students may choose not to answer any or all of the screening questions. Screening will be conducted during April 2019.
One way to prevent youth substance use is to talk with your child about your family’s thoughts, expectations and values regarding substance use. Research shows that parents’ influence is the #1 reason young people decide not to drink alcohol. Together, parents and Medford Public Schools CAN make a difference in the lives of our Medford youth.
Sincerely,
Toni B. Wray, MS, RN, NCSN
Supervisor of Health Services
Nicholas Tucci
Principal, McGlynn MS