by Kate Shunney
Morgan County Schools has received an Innovation grant from the Public School Districts’ Opioid Recovery Trust (PSDORT) in the amount of $500,000 to create a collaborative “mental health hub” to serve the county’s youngest students over three years.
The grant, sought out by the Morgan County Partnership under the leadership of Executive Director Dr. Kristen Gingery and in conjunction with Morgan County Schools, is referred to as the RISE project.
Gingery said the grant will allow the school system and the Morgan County Partnership to fund three new positions, filled by special education and social work professionals who will work with K-5 students of the most acute need.
Gingery noted that this particular fund is meant to address some of the pressing behavioral and educational needs for children who were born during the height of West Virginia’s opioid epidemic, and are rising through public schools now.
Funders described the project in a summary statement included in an announcement about the grant award released on September 16:
“Serving approximately 2,300 students across five schools, MCS faces rising rates of behavioral disruptions, emotional dysregulation, and academic underperformance linked to trauma and family and community instability. The RISE project focuses on two feeding pattern schools, one PK-2 and the other 3-5, where therapeutic practices are needed. The project integrates trauma-informed practices, restorative approaches, and social-emotional learning (SEL) into the fabric of both schools to create a seamless continuum of care as students transition from early childhood to intermediate education. The district will establish a mental health hub linked to the schools through a collaboration with the Morgan County Partnership and other stakeholders.”
Those Morgan County schools would be Widmyer Elementary and Warm Springs Intermediate School.
The Public School Districts’ Opioid Recovery Trust was created after national opioid lawsuits were resolved, ending in a direct investment in public schools.
“Public schools are on the front lines of the crisis, facing three overlapping challenges: children born with Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome who require costly special education services; students coping with addicted or deceased family members; and students themselves struggling with addiction. The new funding will help districts expand special education, mental health, and recovery supports so students can stay in school and on track,” the grant announcement said.
The Trust awarded more than $24 million through 51 grants to 39 school districts across the country “to help schools address the devastating impact of the opioid crisis on students and their families.”
Neighboring Berkeley County Schools received three grants totaling $1.5 million.
Dr. Gingery noted that the grant funds will allow the school system to be a point of delivery for needed mental health services to children and their families in Morgan County.
“This grant represents a powerful investment in the future of Morgan County’s children and families. As a long-standing community partner, Morgan County Partnership is honored to collaborate with Morgan County Schools in expanding school-based service delivery.
“The ability to embed trauma-informed interventions and behavioral health supports within the school setting is a transformative step for students who have been deeply affected by the opioid crisis. This grant not only strengthens the school system’s capacity to respond to trauma, but it also brings the broader service provider community together to ensure that every child has the opportunity to grow, learn, and thrive in a safe and supportive environment. For our families and children, this isn’t just funding, it’s hope, healing, and the foundation for a better future,” she said in the announcement.
The Public School Districts’ Opioid Recovery Trust resulted from litigation between school districts represented by Mehri & Skalet and co-counsel and defendants including McKinsey & Company, Endo International PLC, and Mallinckrodt PLC.
Joshua Sharfstein, Distinguished Professor of Practice, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health:
“School systems are an important part of the solution to the nation’s addiction and overdose crisis. Combining data with local insight to build programs that work for families in their own communities is exactly the right approach.”
The Trust received more than 200 applications from school districts across 34 states and American Samoa. A panel of national experts evaluated proposals in a competitive selection process that concluded June 15, 2025.
