VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Virginia Beach School Board voted to approve the construction of a new regional recovery high school last Tuesday.
In a 10-1 vote, the school board passed the plans for what would be the region's first recovery school.
The proposed school will serve kids with substance abuse disorders who live in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Suffolk, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach. Here, students can receive therapeutic services, peer support, counseling, and mentoring.
The school's proposed name is the Harbor Hope Center.
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The Superintendent is now authorized to complete arrangements for entering into the regional agreement to implement the regional recovery school.
News 3 has been following this story for years and has kept in-touch with a local advocate about her efforts to create this new recovery school.
Carolyn Weems, Virginia Beach School Board member, advocated for this initiative for years. This is because her daughter did not have the resources to help her fight against addiction. Weems' daughter passed away about 10 years ago, a heroin overdose ended her young life.
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“She actually got addicted to painkillers after a soccer accident," said Weems. "She was 14 years old."
Since then, Weems has been fighting to bring a recovery high school to our region. She said the recovery school would be called Harbor Hope Center. The program was made possible thanks to $1.5 million approved by the General Assembly that will be split equally with Loudoun County.
Weems hopes to have the school open by this summer.
