WELCOME! to the Coordinated School Health Unit!
Find topics like Bullying Prevention, Drug & Alcohol Prevention, Health Enhancement, and more, on the Coordinated School Health website!
2025 Montana High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey data (2025-YRBS)
All interested school staff are invited to join our next advisory meeting focused on advancing school safety and student mental health. The Montana Student Well-being Advisory Committee (MSWAC) and the Montana School Safety Advisory Committee (MSSAC) have merged their efforts into a one comprehensive bi-monthly meeting.
Our next joint meeting will be held on:
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October 22nd, 4 PM - 5PM
- Special Guest: fightchildabuse.org, Barbara Sinatra Children's Center
- More info about the Sinatra Children's Center below
Meetings are recorded if you are unable to attend.
If you are interested in attending or would like to learn more, please contact Dwight Nelson at dwight.nelson@mt.gov.
OPI Tobacco Use Prevention Education (TUPE)
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OPI TUPE wants to visit your school in the 2026 2027 school year! Please inquire here for the 2026-2027 school year to schedule a free tobacco use prevention presentation for your students. Have in mind your preferred dates, and number of expected students.
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We have three age appropriate presentations for students: 4th - 6th, MS, and HS. They are approximately 50/55 minutes in length but we can tailor to your bell schedule. We can hold multiple presentations per day.
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OPI TUPE can also provide adult presentations for Teacher PDU hour(s).
OPI TUPE looks forward to visiting you!
Encourage Nicotine Free Families in Your Community!
Nicotine Use Prevention Resources
Parents Against Vaping e-cigarettes (PAVe)
https://www.parentsagainstvaping.org
- PAVe has partnered with researchers at Harvard Medical School and the University of Nebraska Medical Center on a first-of-its-kind youth vaping cessation study. Together, the universities are recruiting parents & teens to help evaluate a new approach that empowers parents to play an active role in supporting their teen's quit journey while advancing research that could help families across the country. If you are interested participating, please sign up here [default.salsalabs.org] or check-out the PAVe website.
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School Safety Update:
At the end of this month, the Montana Office of Public Instruction will submit an application for the School Safety Enhancement Grant. If awarded, this grant will provide significant resources to help rural Montana schools strengthen their safety infrastructure, enhance emergency preparedness and response capabilities, and expand school safety training opportunities for staff.
School Safety Reminder:
As the start of a new school year approaches, it is strongly encouraged for schools to review their Emergency Operation Plan that has been adopted by a local board of trustees. Per ARM 10.55.721 (1), “A local board of trustees shall adopt a policy addressing a school safety plan or emergency operations plan. The plan required by this rule shall be periodically reviewed with stakeholder input and updated as determined necessary by the trustees based on changing circumstances pertaining to school safety.”
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Funding Opportunities for School Mental Health Programs [schoolsafety.gov]
Application periods are open for several school safety-related funding opportunities. These include grants for mental health awareness and literacy training [samhsa.gov] as well as Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education) [samhsa.gov], which provides funding to help schools promote student well-being and address substance use, mental health, and co-occurring disorders. Learn more about these grants, find additional school safety funding opportunities, and sign up for grant release notifications through the SchoolSafety.gov Grants Finder Tool [schoolsafety.gov].
Visit the SchoolSafety.gov Grants Finder Tool [schoolsafety.gov] for additional school safety-related funding opportunities.
New SchoolSafety.gov Issue Brief Shares Youth Substance Use Prevention Strategies [schoolsafety.gov] SchoolSafety.gov [schoolsafety.gov] published an issue brief [schoolsafety.gov] highlighting school-based strategies to prevent, reduce, & respond to substance use among K-12 students. Learn about what makes a young person susceptible to substance use, impacts of substance use on student health and safety, and resources to support prevention efforts. Find additional youth substance use prevention materials at SchoolSafety.gov [schoolsafety.gov].
HELP US MONITOR TEEN TOBACCO PRODUCT USE!
If you work in a middle or high school and have access to confiscated tobacco and/or
nicotine products from students,
YOU CAN HELP!
Funded by NIH and FDA, the Rutgers CRST seeks to better understand emerging tobacco and nicotine product use among teens. Your contributions directly help build the educational resources needed to protect our students.
Here's How You Can Help:
Scan the QR code and follow the instructions to upload a photo.
OPI-TUPE & DPHHA-MTUPP Encourage Schools to Submit Images of Confiscated Tobacco Products
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The Youth Tobacco Monitoring Project maintains an online image library of confiscated tobacco and e-cigarette products from schools nationwide. This visual library is a powerful tool used to educate school leadership, parents, and community decision-makers on what modern tobacco products actually look like, as they are often disguised as everyday school supplies or tech gadgets.
Free Mind [cdc.gov]
This website contains information on the relationship between mental health conditions and substance use disorders, as well as tips for teens to prioritize their mental health.
The OPI is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation, require an alternate format, or have questions concerning accessibility, contact the OPI ADA Coordinator, 406-444-3161, opiada@mt.gov, Relay Service: 711.
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