NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -  A Berkshire County school district is receiving $500,000 to help address the impact of the opioid crisis on students and their families. North Adams Public Schools is one of 39 districts awarded the grant through a nationwide opioid recovery trust. Superintendent Tim Callahan said the city’s opioid death rate is double the state's average in terms of overdoses. He said students are not using opioid themselves, but opioid impacts on parents, guardians or close relatives can play a role in a student's academic success. 

"We've seen major increases with students with disabilities, students who come from low-income families, and social and emotional learning needs our students have and significant life altering disabilities in many of our students,” Callahan said. “For example, our program for students who have autism has gone from three students at the high school, to seven students in the upper elementary and 30 students in the lower elementary.”

The majority of the funding will help the district hire two additional school-adjustment counselors, one at the elementary school and one at the high school.

"Our goals are that the students who are in those caseloads of the school adjustment counselors will see improved attendance, reduced discipline rates and improved academic test scores,” Callahan said. 

The grant also helps the district expand its partnership with the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition to develop and implement a new health and wellness curriculum for students.