An Act to Establish the Upper St. John Valley Recovery High School Program

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132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST SPECIAL SESSION-2025
Legislative Document No. 1753
H.P. 1171 House of Representatives, April 22, 2025
An Act to Establish the Upper St. John Valley Recovery High School
Program
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered
printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative DAIGLE of Fort Kent. (BY REQUEST)
Cosponsored by Senator MOORE of Washington and
Representatives: DEBRITO of Waterville, GRIFFIN of Levant, JAVNER of Chester,
LEMELIN of Chelsea, TUELL of East Machias.

Page 1 - 132LR1446(01)
1Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA c. 335 is enacted to read:
3CHAPTER 335
4UPPER ST. JOHN VALLEY RECOVERY HIGH SCHOOL PILOT PROGRAM
5§9931. Upper St. John Valley Recovery High School Pilot Program
6 The department shall establish the Upper St. John Valley Recovery High School Pilot
7 Program, referred to in this section as "the program," as a 3-year pilot program to be based
8 at the campus of the University of Maine at Fort Kent and to be operated by the Valley
9 Unified Education Service Center, or its successor organization, in accordance with this
10 section, beginning with the 2026-2027 school year. Students enrolled in the program are
11 enrolled as students of School Administrative District No. 27. The program must:
121. Educate high school students. Educate high school students in recovery from
13 substance use disorder or co-occurring disorders;
142. Provide supervised housing. Provide supervised housing to students enrolled in
15 the program during the school week;
163. Address diploma requirements. Address requirements for awarding secondary
17 school diplomas to students enrolled in the program;
184. Require participation in recovery program. Require students to participate in a
19 concurrent, complementary program of recovery from substance use disorder or
20 co-occurring disorders while enrolled in the program;
215. Provide minimum staffing. Be staffed by, at a minimum, a certified adult
22 education teacher, a certified special education teacher or a certified alternative education
23 teacher and a certified education technician III and a full-time recovery coach that will be
24 employed by School Administrative District No. 27;
256. Require drug and alcohol testing. Require drug and alcohol testing to be
26 conducted upon a student's return to campus after a weekend or vacation and require
27 random drug and alcohol testing throughout the school year; and
287. Provide internship opportunities. Provide University of Maine System students
29 enrolled in social and behavioral sciences, social work, criminal justice, rural public safety
30 administration, allied health and nursing programs and other related programs the
31 opportunity to serve as program interns.
32 The department shall work with the Valley Unified Education Service Center, or its
33 successor organization, and the Department of Health and Human Services to establish the
34 curriculum and enrollment criteria for the program. The department shall adopt necessary
35 rules to carry out the provisions of this section. Rules adopted pursuant to this section are
36 routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
37 This chapter is repealed September 1, 2029.
Page 2 - 132LR1446(01)
1SUMMARY
2 This bill requires the Department of Education to establish the Upper St. John Valley
3 Recovery High School Pilot Program, a 3-year pilot program based at the campus of the
4 University of Maine at Fort Kent and operated by the Valley Unified Education Service
5 Center, or its successor organization, to educate high school students in recovery from
6 substance use disorder or co-occurring disorders. The bill requires the program to provide
7 supervised housing to enrolled students during the school week and requires students to
8 participate in a concurrent, complementary program of recovery from substance use
9 disorder or co-occurring disorders while enrolled in the program. The program must
10 address requirements for awarding secondary school diplomas to students enrolled in the
11 program. The bill also requires the Department of Education to work with the Department
12 of Health and Human Services and the Valley Unified Education Service Center to
13 establish the curriculum and enrollment criteria for the program.
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