(Lander, WY) – The KOVE 1330 AM / 107.7 FM Today in the 10 interview series Coffee Time continued today with host Vince Tropea, who recently spoke with Superintendent Mike Harris and Parent Liaison Matt Jacobsen from Fremont County School District #1.
While we normally like to keep Coffee Time conversations light and fun, Harris and Jacobsen stopped by this time to go into a serious, in-depth discussion about recent drug use concerns in the school district.
On March 1, Superintendent Harris and the FCSD #1 school board sent out a letter to the community addressing these concerns, after a “drug-related medical event” occurred a few days prior, involving a student on school property.
That incident led to much concern amongst community members, who shared many of those worries on social media, which then prompted the response from the district.
Harris and Jacobsen discuss many aspects of those concerns/questions from the community, ranging from: the number of overdoses for the 2023/24 school year (it should be noted this discussion only references drug related medical events that occurred on school property/during school hours, and does not take into account overdose reports in the home or elsewhere), the school’s emergency response team that handles these incidents when they do occur on school grounds, the laws that prevent the district from disclosing medical information/incident specifics involving minors to the public/media, the types of drugs that are being abused, what the difference between Kratom and the Delta 8/Delta 9 variants are, how students are accessing these drugs, common signs of student drug use, the programs and events the district has developed/coordinated to help bring more awareness to the issue, and what we as a community need to do to come together to address these concerns.
The district will also be hosting a community resource event on April 4 at the community center (exact details are forthcoming), hosted by Melinda Cox, the Community Project Manager for Project AWARE (Advancing Wellness and Resiliency in Education) and SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration).
You can get more information on that upcoming event from Melinda or Matt, whose emails are shared below.
- Project Aware- Melinda Cox [email protected]
- Parent Liaison/Family Resource Center- Matt Jacobson [email protected]
If you are the parent/guardian of a teen or have a loved one whom you feel may be experiencing struggles with these issues, then make sure to listen to the full Coffee Time interview with Harris and Jacobsen below.
Be sure to tune in to Today in the 10 and Coffee Time interviews every morning from 7:00 to 9:00 AM on KOVE 1330 AM / 107.7 FM, or stream it live right here.