Minnesota's sober high schools are faltering

The state that pioneered sober high schools, and once was home to a dozen, will be down to four next month.

"Outside of Minnesota, the future of recovery schools is really bright," said Michael Durchslag, director of P.E.A.S.E. Academy in Minneapolis, the nation's oldest school for recovering teenage alcoholics and addicts. "But in Minnesota, they're dropping like flies."

Financial woes and erratic enrollment — factors that doomed other tuition-free Minnesota recovery schools that once served as national models — have claimed the last two schools in the Sobriety High School chain. While relatively new recovery schools in Boston, Houston and Indianapolis thrive and other schools have opened recently in Philadelphia, Providence, R.I., and Brockton, Mass., Arona Academy in Coon Rapids and Sobriety High in Burnsville will close for good in June.

Sobriety High lost a key donor — an individual who personally gave an average of $200,000 or more annually to the operation for more than a decade. But that only partly explains what caused the demise of a school chain that had national recognition, a catchy name and an acclaimed foundation for support. An education bill that would have changed the formula by which recovery schools are reimbursed fizzled at the State Capitol this spring, further complicating their plight.

"Arona Academy was the greatest thing to ever happen to me," said Nick, 16, a recovering heroin addict from Columbia Heights who plans to attend P.E.A.S.E. next year.

Maddie, 17, a recovering addict from Mounds View, was even more succinct: "Arona Academy helped save my life."

The need for recovery schools remains strong in Minnesota, experts say. The chances of a young addict relapsing increase dramatically when that person returns to the traditional school where problems surfaced.

"The need is there," Steinhagen said. "The question is why Minnesota's recovery schools have never been able to achieve a business model that's sustainable."

The schools' financial problems date to the 1980s and 1990s, when they were being formed and emerged as pioneers for the nation's chemical-dependency treatment industry.

The schools usually have been housed within traditional high schools under the "alternative" umbrella or were established as charter schools. They receive state per-pupil aid — a Catch-22 since most recovery schools or programs have limited numbers of students, by design. The schools also rely heavily on fundraising to provide counselors and specialists in the chemical-dependency field.

"Most of the schools around the country got started because of the great work in Minnesota," said Andrew J. Finch, Vanderbilt University professor and founder and senior adviser for the Association of Recovery Schools. "But many of those schools in Minnesota were started by people in the chemical dependency field and well-intentioned parents, not by businesspeople. The sad reality is that outside of Minnesota, the schools are doing really well."

The Minnesota Model — the moniker given more than 50 years ago to treating addicts through abstinence, but also with dignity — is a term that recovery schools nationally use admiringly when discussing Minnesota's sober high schools. Roger Oser, principal at Ostiguy High School in Boston, says, "Minnesota is considered the birthplace of recovery high schools. Minnesota is the model."

Ostiguy didn't blossom overnight. It took eight years of planning before the school opened, Oser said. There were few guarantees. A school in Janesville, Wis., opened in 2008 and closed two years later. Today, there are fewer than three dozen recovery schools nationally. Massachusetts and Minnesota each lead the nation with four. None of the Massachusetts schools opened before 2006.

"We've been fortunate in getting funding through the public-health system," Oser said. "For other schools, we know that's a challenge."

Minnesota has often used the charter-school model for its recovery schools — and that has presented challenges, particularly for suburban and rural schools, said Carol Falkowski, chair of the National Youth Recovery Foundation. She is also the recently retired director of the alcohol- and drug-abuse division of the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

"Transportation costs have never been covered," said Falkowski, who runs Drug Abuse Dialogues. "Some parents drive 50 miles each way to school. Also, to make any charter school work, you need a certain number of students."

There have been as few as one student at the Lakes Recovery School in Detroit Lakes. Currently, there are four. The Mankato Central Freedom Recovery School, an alternative program within a high school, is usually around its capacity of 16. The Insight program in White Bear Lake caters to a capacity of 15.

"If you're a small charter school, you have a tough time surviving," Durchslag said. "There's the costs of teachers and support staff and there's that critical need for numbers. At recovery schools, there's no timetable as to when a student will arrive, or may leave.

"Chemical dependency is a federally recognized disability," he said. "There's a lot of funding, but not necessarily at the state level."

Cathie Harnett, executive director of the National Youth Recovery Foundation, formerly known as the Sobriety High Foundation, notified the parents of students at the two high schools about to close. She said in her letter she told them:

"One blessing Minnesota has is there are still four recovery schools open. Parents of Sobriety High have a place to send their kids to. Most states don't."

Paul Levy • 612-673-4419