February 10, 2023 Update

Recap of Fentanyl Presentation from Feb. 9 SHAC Meeting

We wanted to provide families and staff with a recap of the fentanyl presentation from last night’s Student Health Advisory Council (SHAC) meeting. 

In a previously scheduled SHAC meeting on Feb. 9 at 7 pm, a presentation on fentanyl was on the agenda to be presented by Officer Stefanovic, School Resource Officer; Jo Gillen, CFBISD Chief of SEL & Post-Secondary Readiness; Heather Hays, Registered Nurse (RN) R. L. Turner High School; and Sandra Lieck, CFBISD Director Health Services. The meeting was held at the Educational Services Division Complex (ESDC) Building B located at 1820 Pearl St. in Carrollton, 75006, in the Texas Room. 

What is SHAC?

A School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) is a group appointed by the school district to serve at the district level. Members of the SHAC come from different areas of the community and from within the school district. The majority of members must be parents who are not employed by the district. Texas law (Texas Education Code, Title 2, Subtitle F, Chapter 28, Subchapter A, §28.004) requires the establishment of a SHAC for every school district. SHACs are required to meet at least four times each year. 

Questions and Comments at Feb. 9 Presentation

Although due to SHAC guidelines, only members of the SHAC committee can ask questions to the presentation panel, anyone in the community may attend and observe the meetings. There is an “audience for guest” portion of the meeting that allows for public comments to be made to the presenter panel and the SHAC committee. 

Because SHAC guidelines do not allow the audience to ask questions, CFBISD collected questions from the audience and will provide the answers to those questions on the district’s website.

Presenters included: 

• Officer Steganovic, School Resource Officer, R. L. Turner High School

• Jo Gillen, CFBISD Chief of SEL & Post-Secondary Readiness

• Heather Hays, Registered Nurse (RN) R. L. Turner High School, and Sandra Lieck, CFBISD Director Health Services

Presentation Materials and Additional Resources

To view a recording of the presentation, please visit our YouTube channel. To view closed captions of the presentation in Spanish or another language, please follow the following steps:

1. Click on the “Closed Captions” icon (looks like a square with the letters “CC” in it)

2. Click on the “Settings” icon (looks like a gear) 

3. Under the settings icon, select “Subtitles/CC,” and then click “Auto Translate.” A list of languages you can translate into will be displayed. Select “Spanish” or the language that you prefer.

To view community resources for families, please visit our Resources for Parents page on the Counseling Department’s website in English and Spanish. 

To find more information about this drug, please visit Fentanyl Awareness & Prevention - Texas School Mental Health (schoolmentalhealthtx.org).

Additional Presentations for Parents

CFBISD previously hosted two parent drug awareness presentations about the dangers of drug use among teens including fentanyl on Nov. 9 and Nov. 12, 2022. Additional parent drug awareness presentations will be held in the upcoming weeks and dates and times will be shared with families. 

Thank you for your ongoing commitment to work together in keeping our schools and communities safe. We believe if we work together as a community, we can avoid these tragedies.

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February 6, 2023 Message

Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD is deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of our students due to the fentanyl epidemic that continues to be a concern throughout the nation. Our hearts are very heavy at the loss of young lives.

“We must come together as a community to solve this problem that is endangering our children,” said Brian Moersch, Interim Superintendent. “We strongly encourage adults to engage in open conversations with children about the risks of drugs, especially fentanyl.”

We have taken several actions to educate our CFB community on the dangers of fentanyl. On October 31, 2022, an email was sent to all parents through our parent messaging system alerting them to the threat of fentanyl and inviting them to two parent drug awareness presentations about the dangers of drug use among teens including fentanyl. The presentations were given on Nov. 9 and Nov. 12, 2022. Our Crisis Team and two Licensed Chemical Dependency counselors have also developed student drug awareness presentations and are currently presenting this information at the secondary campuses. Additional parent drug awareness presentations will be held in the upcoming weeks.

In a previously scheduled Student Health Advisory Council (SHAC) meeting on Feb. 9 at 7 p.m., a presentation on fentanyl will be presented by Officer Stefanovic, School Resource Officer; Monica Belen and Heidi Whitehill, Chemical Dependency Councilors; Heather Hays, RN Turner HS; and Sandra Lieck, CFBISD Director Health Services. The meeting will be at the Educational Services Division Complex (ESDC) Building B located at 1820 Pearl St. in Carrollton, 75006, in the Texas Room. 

In an effort to decrease the effects fentanyl may have on our school community, Narcan was obtained in October for all district facilities. Furthermore, as another method of intervention, CFBISD has started random canine searches at our secondary campuses.

We will continue to work cooperatively with local law enforcement agencies to address this issue and to maximize safety on our campuses in every way possible. We believe if we work together as a community, we can avoid these tragedies.