ROARING FORK BROADCASTING COMPANY
The Aspen School District is looking to address disparities in mental health rates among underrepresented students, after results from the 2023 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey showed higher rates of poor mental health in students who experienced racism.
The statewide survey is conducted among middle and high schools every two years to measure overall student wellness, which includes questions about substance use and mental health. Results from the 2023 survey at the Aspen School District showed an overall decrease in substance use and negative mental health feelings, but Hispanic and Latino students showed much higher rates of poor mental health than white students did, Aspen Family Connections Director Katherine Sand told members of Aspen School District Board of Education in a meeting Wednesday.
“Many young people who are Hispanic, or Latinx, or multiracial are having a different experience in our community and in our school, it’s just not the same,” Sand said. “What they’re feeling, what they’re seeing, what they’re experiencing day-to-day, they’re not the same and the stresses on them are not the same.”
According to cross-tabulated data, 42% of students who said they experienced racism in the past 12 months reported unmanageable stress levels, compared to 23% of students who did not experience racism but reported unmanageable stress levels.
Aspen Family Connections, a school-based resource center, is working on ways to make the school district more inclusive, including encouraging involvement in school activities despite language or cultural barriers. The resource center also established a Latino family engagement coordinator to bridge that gap, Sand said.
Superintendent Tharyn Mulberry said the district is also working on student and parent outreach to address the disparities among underrepresented students’ reported poor mental health.
“It’s a priority, not only on the mental health side, but on the academic side,” Mulberry told the Aspen Daily News in an interview. “I think we’ve had some inroads academically; now it’s just very clear that we have to think about belonging and inclusion for those underrepresented groups. I think there’s a lot of initiative work that’s been implemented by AFC to get this going, but it’s also going to be incumbent upon the building administrators and our staff to do the necessary work to get our kids involved in what we’re doing.”
The survey results still overall showed positive changes in substance use and mental health among middle and high school students. In 2023, 20% of students reported feeling sad or hopeless every day for two weeks or more in a row, compared to 40% in 2021.
The percentage of students in the Aspen School District who reported drinking in the past 30 days also declined, from 50% in 2021 to 43.6% in 2023.
Perceptions of substance use have changed among students since the 2021 survey. About 75% of Aspen High School students thought it was wrong for someone of the same age to use e-vapor products in 2023, compared to about 65% in 2021. It mirrors a national decline in the perception of vaping, Sand said, after studies have continued to highlight the harms of vaping.
But the rates of substance use among Aspen School District students is significantly higher than the state average. Statewide, 20.5% of students reported drinking alcohol in the past 30 days, compared to 43.6% at Aspen High School. It is partially a reflection of Aspen’s drinking culture, particularly the “après ski” culture, district leaders said. Sand pointed to parties at Cloud Nine Alpine Bistro on Aspen Highlands or community events often sponsored by alcohol companies.
“Kids here grow up steeped in this atmosphere, and I think it is quite challenging,” she said.
There is also a connection between declining mental health and substance use, Sand said. About 32% of students who reported frequent poor mental health had reported drinking alcohol in the past 30 days, compared to 23% of students who reported frequent poor mental health but did not report drinking alcohol. About 47% of students who reported frequent poor mental health had used marijuana in the past 30 days compared to 21% who did not use marijuana, 52% had used cigarettes compared to 24% who had not, and 55% had vaped compared to 22% who had not.
The district has worked closely with Aspen Family Connections to address mental health and substance use among students. Aspen High School implemented strict no-alcohol policies at athletic events and school dances. Students are breathalyzed before entering prom or homecoming dances.
But a big piece of bringing down substance use among students is creating a sense of belonging for students and working with the community for an “all sides” approach, Sand said.
The school board approved another five years of use for the city’s tobacco tax, which the district has used to fund efforts like the Aspen High School Hope Squad, a group of peer-to-peer counselors.
Sand also told the board Aspen Family Connections was recently awarded a federal grant from the Drug Free Communities Support Program. Aspen Family Connections will use some of the funds to build upon efforts of engaging community partners to help address underage substance use.
“We cannot control the community and clearly this is the community coming into the school,” said board President Christa Gieszl. “I think that providing that stability, it gives people, even among this chaos, a chance to have something rock solid in their life, and whatever we can do to create that belonging is a community effort.”