Campus Climate, Behavioral Support & Drug and Alcohol Interventions

Offered in Spanish and English for Fall 2021.

Topics covered include:

• Adolescent brain development and how alcohol and drugs affect the brain;
• Substance use, abuse and addiction;
• Various drugs used by teens and their effects on the body (marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, methamphetamine, prescription and over-the-counter medications);
• What parents can do if they suspect their child is using/abusing drugs and/or alcohol; and
• Effective parenting practices such as: communications skills, implementing limits, rules and consequences and where to seek support/resources if needed.

A one-time, 60-minute psycho-educational class on drug use. Students are assigned as an alternative to two of three days of suspension for drug use, possession or paraphernalia. 

Topics covered include:

• Continuum of use: experimentation, recreational use, abuse, addiction;
• Physiological effects of drugs (alcohol, marijuana), as well as development of adolescent brain;
• Negative effects of continued drug use;
• Drug use as an unhealthy coping strategy and review of alternative coping strategies; and
• Outside resources and supports.

A two-session, 60-minute class that will help those students who are struggling with their decision making processes.

Perspectives will cover some of the following topics:

• Understanding how thoughts and feelings lead to behaviors;
• Developing an understanding of how their decisions affect more than just them;
• Understanding the long term consequences of poor decision making;
• Developing their decision making skills;
• Understanding their behaviors from the perspective of an outsider;
• Understanding conflict resolution skills;
• Understating the difference between Assertive and Aggressive; and
• Understating the power of their choices and actions.

A counseling-based program that helps students develop a better understanding of their negative emotions.  

During the 8 week group, students will work on the following:

• Develop an understanding of what insight is and how a lack of it has hindered them;
• Develop insight as to what makes them angry;
• Develop insight as to how their anger affects them and those around them;
• Develop skills to help manage anger; and
• Develop conflict resolution skills.

Offered once in the Fall and once in the Spring, this 12-session Botvin LifeSkills Training (LST) course is a research-validated substance abuse prevention program proven to reduce the risks of alcohol, tobacco, drug abuse, opioid misuse, and violence by targeting the major social and psychological factors that promote the initiation of substance use and other risky behaviors. This comprehensive curriculum provides adolescents with the confidence and skills necessary to successfully handle challenging situations.  

Ongoing, extensive out-patient counseling available for youth ages 13-21. Designed for students with Medi-Cal or without insurance, the group will assist a family with other insurance connect with service so it is ok to refer any family/student. 

Recovery Services provides: 

• Assessment, case management, and treatment planning;
• Individual and Group Therapy;
• Collateral Services to Caregivers if Requested by youth; 
• Recovery Monitoring and Coaching; 
• Psychoeducation; and
• Linkage to community-based resources Length of Services. 

Services last about 3 months & up to 6 months. If Services need to go longer than 6 months, it can be examined on a case by case basis. Services are tailored to the individual and their individual needs.

Interested families can contact their child's assistant principal, guidance counselor or school based therapist for more information, or please call Alison Coy at 408-522-2775.

Available, monthly, on a limited basis to students in FUHSD. Provides sexual health and family planning supports as well as referrals. No COVID-19 testing or vaccinations. Contact Alison Coy at 408-522-2275 or Alisa Dunlap at 408-522-2239 for more information.

The District spends $24,000 per year to support the SRO program; $12,000 for Sunnyvale Public Safety and $12,000 for the Sheriff's Department.

• The Fremont Union High School District funds 12.4 full time school psychologists across our five high school campuses and Educational Options (5.5 to support the General Education population and 6.9 to support students with identified disabilities- those with either a 504 plan or IEP).
• FUHSD funds 16.1 full time licensed therapists (6.8 for the General Education population and 9.3 for students with identified disabilities).
• FUHSD funds 22 guidance counselors who provide guidance services for all students, with four academic counselors at each school site, a counselor responsible for coordinating concurrent and dual enrollment classes at De Anza College and the other local community colleges, and a counselor serving our Educational Options students. 
• Our tiered system allows us to use our site mental health teams to triage support and provide resources to the students who have the greatest needs. These site teams are comprised of an Assistant Principal, Lead Resource Specialist (responsible for leading our Special Education Department at each school), School Psychologist, School Therapist and general education teachers. These teams look at individual cases to determine a way to provide help beyond the services offered to every student. These services could include, but are not limited to, meetings with a guidance counselor, meetings with one of our therapists, considering assessing the student for special education services, utilizing some of our restorative justice efforts or considering assignment to one of our programs in Education Options.

• For each $1 spent on SRO contracts, the District spends $300 in support of student mental health services.
  • FUHSD spends close to $5 million dollars a year on therapists and psychologists.
  • As shared above, for our general education students, we have 5.5 full time equivalent psychologists and 6 full time fully licensed therapists in our schools. In addition, we have approximately 14 full time licensed mental health workers who serve our students with more severe needs, including those who have either 504 plans for disabilities or IEP’s for those students in special education. The costs for these services are approximately $2.18 million dollars a year for general education and $2.46 million dollars a year for special education.
• These counts and costs do not include extensive contracted services for our severely emotionally disturbed students, two school nurses and a social worker which would bring the total expenditure to over $5 million a year. 
• In addition, services for all students that are NOT included in this $5 million, are the four academic counselors on every site, plus a counselor who coordinates concurrent and dual enrollment classes at De Anza and other community colleges, and one who serves our Educational Options students for a total of 22 individuals.
  • We have heard that having four counselors per school is inadequate, and while the ratios of four per 2,000 plus students per campus is large, each campus has a significant number of additional supports to manage the students who have the greatest needs. 

The modest funds that FUHSD contributes to supporting our SROs is extremely small when compared with the millions spent by the district to support mental health and therapeutic services for our more than 10,000 students. Redirecting these funds from the SRO program to student services would not allow us to hire any additional full-time staff or provide additional services or programs.

For drug related incidents as well as other disciplinary issues, we have a tiered response system as highlighted by the Progression of Interventions. We also have a district Saturday School program that is designed to be a restorative option for many disciplinary situations. The group of students is kept small - typically between 8 and 18 students. A counselor is assigned to the group and meets individually with each student to reflect on what happened and plan for future success. Also assigned to the Saturday School room are an administrator, a teacher and a paraeducator to support students with their academic work.

For Truancy, which is now referred to as Chronic Absenteeism, we have a multi-step process that provides increasingly personalized support as highlighted by the Chronic Absenteeism Intervention (CAI) process.

Administrators and support staff cite the relationship between the SRO and the school as the main benefit that the SRO relationship brings to school campuses. This includes having a direct line of communication to the SRO and being able to expect a rapid response in times of crisis, feeling like the SRO understands the culture of the school and its students and families, and knowing that the SRO has training in trauma-informed care and de-escalation and will approach a challenging situation with care. Staff also report being able to consult off the record with our SROs, which allows them to get information without worrying about a student getting in trouble. Our established relationships with the SROs allow us to problem solve and work to prevent future issues rather than focus on punitive measures.

In general, the role of the SRO is to partner with site administrators in solving issues that may require finesse, investigation or hand holding that we would not normally get from a regular patrol officer. They also provide training and professional development to staff, parents and students. They assist us frequently by intervening in situations and working with students to prevent them from rising to a more serious level that would require suspension or expulsion.

• Accessibility: SROs are a known presence and are swift to respond to school’s needs;
• Relationship: SROs work to create non-contentious relationships with students and staff;
• Safety: SROs respond to a wide variety of safety concerns;
• Trainings: SROs provide trainings for students and staff on topics such as internet safety and Run, Hide, Defend drills;
• Consultation and Support: SROs help schools prepare Run, Hide, Defend plans and analyze the need for any improvements, and consult on a wide range of other issues that allow schools to avoid calling them officially; and
• Traffic Support: SROs provide traffic support on some campuses.

During this time of distance learning, the SROs are available to support students and families as requested by counseling or administrative staff. For example, an SRO might be called on to do a welfare check on a student who is threatening to harm themselves.

The SRO does not work solely at the direction of school officials. They may go to students’ homes for legal reasons separate from school. In conjunction with school activities, the SRO may go to a home if requested to do a welfare check visit. Home visits from an SRO/NRO are not part of the district’s Chronic Absenteeism Intervention program.

SROs are called in situations where severe crimes are being reported, including any that involve sexual assault, a felony-level fight, ongoing harassment/threats to students (multiple previous attempts at intervention were not successful), significant drug sales, bomb threats or a gun or explosives on campus.

Typically, our NRO/SROs provide us their personal cell phone numbers and are often available to us off-hours, on days off and on weekends. They become a resource our administrators can call upon when they need to a make an informed decision about an investigation or student discipline issue. Occasionally, we also ask the police department to station an officer(s) on campus as a precaution to make students and staff feel safer. An example of this would be when we have received hoax threats in the past. The SRO’s have been able to help us determine whether or not the threat is real, and serve as a presence to support students and staff as needed.

Schools do not call an SRO for behavior infractions, students under the influence, clothing violations, classroom issues or defiance. Site-based, tiered interventions are attempted in these situations.

The student should reach out to an administrator (principal, assistant principal or dean) at their school site to share their experience and express their complaint. The student is also welcome to reach out to the Associate Superintendent of Student and Special Services at the District Office.

The member should contact the appropriate law enforcement agency to share their experience and express their complaint.