Kay Wilson’s stomach ties up in knots when she hears her teenage daughter’s stories of drug and alcohol use among St. Helena students. Her heart sinks when she hears about kids camping on private property and binge drinking until they pass out.

Unfortunately for Wilson, her concern is backed up by data — statistics that say drug and alcohol use among Upvalley students is a frightening trend.

According to the California Healthy Kids Survey, sponsored by the California Department of Education, drug and alcohol use among students in St. Helena and Calistoga is significantly higher than statewide averages, said Shirin Vakharia, supervisor for the Substance Abuse Prevention and Youth Treatment Unit at Napa County Health and Human Services.

The survey, administered to students in fifth grade and up, looks at health behaviors of students across California and focuses on abuse of alcohol and other substances.

The results of the survey, said Vakharia, bear bad news for Napa County, revealing that while youth drug and alcohol use is dropping across California, there are pockets across Napa County, particularly Upvalley, where high rates of drug use and binge drinking are a “serious concern,” she said.

Local school climate surveys mirror those results, said Calistoga High School Principal Kevin Eisenberg.

Wilson, who in addition to being a mother is director of health and safety for the St. Helena Unified School District, said that data provided by law enforcement officials “shows both of our towns could use a real coordinated effort to bring about more awareness and services around those issues.”

In response, the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs and the California Department of Education awarded Napa County a $1.07 million five-year grant for youth alcohol and drug prevention programs. The funding is part of a larger grant administered by the California Department of Education and the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Problems to 18 counties in California. Napa will receive between $213,000 and $215,000 a year for the next five years, said Vakharia.

Napa’s funding will be divided evenly between St. Helena and Calistoga school districts, and will be used primarily to expand existing Student Assistance Programs, which link students with resources and support for issues related to academics, behavior, mental health and substance abuse.

“When the grant announcement was released,” said Vakharia, “we already had in mind that we wanted to do something, particularly Upvalley, which is an underserved part of the community when it comes to drug and alcohol prevention resources.”

The grant will provide for Student Assistance Program coordinators, who will act as the first point of contact for students and families dealing with substance abuse issues. The coordinators will put students in touch with resources such as the Wolfe Center or the Family Center; they will also work with faculty and community on education and awareness. The grant, said Vakharia, will pay for programs including one-on-one intervention and group-based services, parental education and an evaluation of the programs’ success.

Eisenberg said that while the districts were already “able to get started” in combating problems, now they can go full-steam ahead.

“This is a wonderful grant because it’s allowing us to fully implement the Student Assistance Program,” he said, “making sure there’s a person here on campus working with students, serving as a case manager and making sure all students are healthy and ready and prepared for class.”

The programs will target students between seventh and 12th grade, and Vakharia expects the expansion to begin in November.

Calistoga Superintendent Jeff Johnson said the grant “is nothing but good news for our district.”

The goal of the program, said Vakharia, is to increase students’ access to Student Assistance Programs at each campus and to link 85 percent of all students that go through the program with some form of assistance.

Most of all, she said, she wants to see positive shifts in students’ stance towards drugs or alcohol, whether it be abstaining from their use altogether or cutting down on high-risk behavior such as drinking and driving.

Dealing with drug- and alcohol-related problems will raise the academic bar across the district, said Vakharia. “There is a lot of research that links academic performance and classroom behavioral issues with youth drug and alcohol use, whether it is happening on campus or not. … You can have the best teacher in the world and the best curriculum materials, but if a student is getting drunk during the evenings or coming to school high, there’s only so much you can do.”

As for the reasons behind the high rate of use in St. Helena and Calistoga districts, “We’ve not been able to pinpoint why the rates are higher,” said Vakharia, though she believes there are multiple contributing factors.

“Some feel that a smaller community has different social norms, and it takes fewer kids to influence those norms,” she said. “Some people also speculate that it is because there are fewer social options and alternatives (in St. Helena and Calistoga).”

Wilson wonders if the rural areas Upvalley make it easier for students to throw large parties with a greater deal of privacy and isolation; Eisenberg says that there is an increasing number of low-income students who may not be getting attention available to more affluent students.

Regardless, Eisenberg said that both districts are making strides to keep up with what educators agree is a problem among students. “We’re certainly more aware and better able to track what is going on, and we’re taking a much more proactive approach than we have in the past,” he said.