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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-05-17 Substance Abuse Prevention Advisory Council MinutesU CLERK EMASS, rI;_ 9 2001 JUN Lb P 4: 00 Reading Substance Abuse Advisory Council Minutes May 17, 2001 Present: Bill Carrick, Sandy Michaud, Mike Hanifan, Lori Leland, John Costigan, Laurie Arsenault, Amy Rosenblatt, Jane Fadden, Cathy Kosta (arrived late-had' phoned to let us know), Jane Fiore Called, Excused: Leone Sullivan, Bill Griset, Marc Alterio, and David LeBassi. Meeting called to order: 8:05 P.M. by chairman Bill Carrick. Membership Update: Five members up for reappointment - Sandy Michaud will reapply; Dave LeBassi will reapply; Leone Sullivan will reapply. It is not known if Dale Merrill and John Segalla are planning to reapply. Rev. Jane Fadden announced her resignation as she will be leaving Reading. Thus, there are four other vacancies. It is expected that a new Peer Leader will apply (Lori Leland will recruit one) and that the Reading Clergy Association will put forward a new candidate. There was discussion about petitioning the Board of Selectmen to remove any remaining unfilled vacancies due to large number of members and the difficulty that we have had over the past year to have a quorum present at the meetings (note the late start time for most of our recent meetings). Secretary's Report: Sandy Michaud asked the council to review the minutes of March 15, 2001. A motion was made to approve by John Costigan, seconded by Mike Hanifan. The minutes of March 15, 2001 were 4pproved as written 5-0 with 3 abstentions. Public Input: There was no public input at the meeting. Old Business: Jane Fiore was asked to step out of the room and the Council discussed and signed a job evaluation of Jane as our Staff Liason. A motion was made by Laurie Arsenault and seconded by Amy Rosenblatt that the minutes should reflect that Jane has done an excellent job for the Council. The motion passed 8-0-0. Publications/Correspondence: Jane Fiore submitted a copy of the letter sent to the parents of juniors and seniors at RMHS to the newspaper. Police Report: Leone Sullivan was not present. Schc,,al Report: Jane Fiore gave the report for Marc Alterio in his absence. The seminars for middle school parents are progressing well, with 63 parents attending the first seminar. The last two seminars will be "Raising Sons" with Susan S~ielman on May 22nd at Parker @ 7:30 and "Raising Daughters" with Marilyn Buckner on May 30 at Parker @ 7.30. The Police Department via Pat Iapicca will present a parent education night on May 21'` @ 7:30 at the Police Station on the Internet with Detective Brady from Medford, who is an expert on internet crime targeting youth. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey results should be public knowledge by August or September. Sharmeen Irani has reported that, because the questions were switched, the results were scanned twice and are now being evaluated by hand. This problem will not occur in the future as they now know-how to deal with switching questions and scanning the results. Health Dept. Report: None pertinent to this Council. Student Liason Report: There will be a training on June 8th for new Peer Leaders. Lori Leland is now a Peer Leader. Drug Free Week: Sub-committees are to be developed for next year's Drug Free Week. The subcommittees will report their progress at each meeting under Old Business. Free Skate/ Swim: John Costigan and Lori Leland. He th Fair: Jane Fiore has applied for a Community Grant to fund a health fair next year and Leone Sullivan is applying for health fair funds through the Governor's Alliance Against Drugs. The Council had been asked to serve next year as hosts for the health fair in two-hour blocks on the day of the fair. Community Forum Report: This year's Open Forum on Designer Drugs and Inhalants worked well and had 29 participants outside Council members. Lori and Mike received feedback that the forum was very informative and helpful. Laurie and John got feedback that evening that the participants were glad that they hod come and found the forum very informative. Future Open Forums: A motion was made by Sandy Michaud and seconded by Cathy Kosta that " Quarterly forums be sponsored by the Substance Abuse Advisory Council, similar to the one put on this year." The motion passed 9-0-0. The Forums are tentatively scheduled for Oct. 3, 2001, Jan.9, 2002, Margh 6, 2002 (during Drug Free Week), and June 5, 2002. Laurie Arsenault, Cathy Kosta, and Bill Carrick will form a subcommittee to plan the forums. Mike Lynch owes our Council a community talk. Jane vyill seek him for next year's Drug Free Week. There was discussion that the first forum should be more global, along the lines of "Demystifying Substance Abuse" and would consist of a panel discussion focusing on alcohol. Plan for future parent program: Tabled due to Marc Alterio's absence Grant Disgussion: $19,028 is available for the Safe and Drug Free Schools grant for next year. We received an increase of $1,000 because the Youth Risk Behavior Survey was administered this year. The grant will fund Peer Leader Advisors at the two Middle Schools and the High School (a total of 7 advisors), Peer Leadership training, rental fees, supplies, and instructional materials. To put together the grant application, Jane Fiore had to pull together the statistics for those under the age of 19 who had trips to the emergency room for such causes as car accidents, substance abuse, suicide attempts, and violent altercations. She also had to compile the statistics from the schools regarding cheating, bullying, suspensions, and violence. Other Business: There was a discussion regarding the possibility of sponsoring one annual teacher training on basic drug/alcohol awareness. This training was done in the past, but now there are many new teachers and it is time to explore the possibility of reinstituting it, perhaps as part of professional development. It was felt that we should consult Marc Alterio regardiig this matter. Plans for next meeting: Review leadership for next year. Cathy Kosta, seconded by Laurie Arsenault made a motion to change the next meeting to June 14, 2001. Motion passed 9-0-0. Adjournment: Cathy Kosta, seconded by John Costigan, made a motion to adjourn. The motion passed 9-0-10. The meeting was adjourned at 9:40 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Sandy Michhaud.