SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. -
At a packed South Burlington School Board meeting, parents voiced their concerns about a proposed methadone treatment clinic opening near the middle and high school.
"I don't feel it's safe to let a 12-year-old walking with there is potential criminals," says Deb Destefano, a South Burlington parent.
Parents are nervous that the Howard Center wants to move a methadone treatment clinic from Burlington to South Burlington. While most in the room agreed a center is needed to help prescription drug addicts, they don't like the idea it might be close to students.
The Howard Center says it needs the bigger space to handle a growing number of patients.
It had a few supporters in the audience including some parents, who also are health care workers, who say the clinic could be a good thing and can help people struggling with addictions.
"I challenge to try and focus on a solution to make this co-existence work," says Doug Bugbee, a South Burlington parent.
If everything goes the Howard Center's way, the clinic would open in a few months.
But the school board has challenged the center's permit to work on the clinic. While that issue will be heard next week, parents say this is just the beginning of the fight.
