The Frisco Independent School District (FISD) will be hosting a town hall meeting for district residents and community members on Thursday in a bid to sound the alarm on the current fentanyl crisis in North Texas.
As previously reported in The Dallas Express, parts of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex have been rocked by the pervasive spread of the deadly drug after more than 10 students in a local school district suffered overdoses since last September. Three of them died.
FISD Board of Trustees President René Archambault spoke about the issue at a school board meeting earlier this month.
“As a board, as a district, as a community, the fentanyl crisis is real,” she said, per Community Impact. “We’re seeing so many horrific stories about overdoses on campuses, and if there’s anything that we can do to educate our community about just how dangerous this is, then we need to be doing that.”
Two more student overdoses in the metroplex recently made headlines, with one resulting in the death of a 16-year-old Plano student, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.
Overdose deaths have been rising across the country over the last few years, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention clocking a 15% year-over-year increase in 2021. Out of the estimated 107,622 overdose deaths that year, approximately 71,238 of them involved fentanyl, up from an estimated 57,834 in 2020.
In Dallas, where City leaders have been unable to get control over drug trafficking, drug offenses are on the rise year to date, with the City reporting 2,870 incidents so far this year, according to the City of Dallas Open Data crime analytics dashboard.
FISD Trustee Debbie Gillespie informed The Dallas Express that some district students have overdosed in recent years but left it unclear whether any incidents took place on FISD campuses. She noted that the district has been moving to raise awareness about the issue, pointing to the upcoming town hall and previous campaigns.
“I’m really glad that we are taking a strong proactive approach to the growing crisis. It’s awful,” Gillespie said.
The town hall will be held on Thursday, April 20, in the FISD Administration Building. It will feature multiple speakers with experience in dealing with drug abuse and drug-related medical emergencies.
