Big Country schools prioritize opioid education & prevention ahead of new school year

ABILENE, Texas ( KTAB/KRBC ) — As schools across the Big Country prepare to open their doors to students for the new year, staff have examined policies such as dress codes, phones, and drugs.

The opioid epidemic has been prevalent in the Big Country, and inside the education space, administrators are making sure students are educated about the dangers of opioid abuse, especially Fentanyl.

Alison Camp, the executive director of student services at the Abilene Independent School District, emphasized the importance of incorporating prevention education into everyday curriculum due to the advancement of technology and social media.

“[Fentanyl] can look like a gummy, it can look like a piece of candy, different things can be laced,” Camp said. “Our students are having to be more and more aware of these dangers just because it is the world they live in. We want to make sure they’re prepared to know what to do, to know where to report, to know how to get help.”

At AISD, students are encouraged to speak up if they see something suspicious. They can report to the crime stoppers or their school resource officer or use the ‘Speak Up’ feature to report anonymously.

Thanks to a bill passed in Texas in 2023, public schools are required to provide Fentanyl education for students in grades 6 through 12.

At Premiere Schools, Nurse Christine O’Shields makes it a point to teach her students hands-on how to use life-saving measures, such as administering Narcan.

“I teach them how to use it in our kitchen. I tell them that there are places in the community that they can go, and they can have Narcan on hand,” O’Shields explained. “It’s in the vapes; it’s in everything, so we kind of try and keep a close eye.”

Administrators across the Big Country are doing everything they can to prevent the opioid epidemic from encapsulating the education space.

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