Just days before students return to Hays CISD after winter break, the death of a 14-year-old student is under the microscope due to an epidemic that has rocked the school district since last year.
According to a Community Impact report, a 14-year-old girl was found unconscious in her home on January 3, but attempts to save her life were unsuccessful. The city of San Marcos told Community Impact that the girl’s toxicology report is still being processed, but a fentanyl overdose is suspected.
MySA requested comments from Hays CISD but did not receive an immediate response.
In the last six months at Hays CISD, four students have died of fentanyl overdoses. The 14-year-old schoolboy would be the fifth death if the cause of death was confirmed to be fentanyl.
She wasn’t the only one in the school district who was suspected of overdosing on fentanyl during the holidays. According to the report, three other students, still in the seventh grade, suffered fentanyl overdoses, but all three survived.
Hays CISD Communications Director Tim Savoy told Community Impact that if a suspected fentanyl-related death of a 14-year-old student is confirmed, there will be at least one fentanyl-related death in every high school in the district from July 2022.
Before the start of the school year, the Kyle Police Department reported three 2022 drug-related deaths. A 17-year-old student died at the end of July, another 17-year-old student died at the beginning of August, and a 15-year-old student died on August 20. The fourth death of the year was confirmed on September 7 when Hays CISD shared that a student had died from fentanyl in early July.
The school district has created a website designed to let the community know about the dangers of fentanyl.
