Photo: Stephen Crump/District Attorney General Tennessee, 10th Judicial District
Three people at an East Tennessee high school were exposed to fentanyl through a student's vape pen this week, authorities say.
On Tuesday (November 30), authorities responded to Sequoyah High School in Madisonville after receiving reports that multiple people inside the school had been exposed to the illegal substance while a student was being removed from a classroom, FOX 17 reports. The Monroe County Sheriff's Department claimed that the pen was laced with fentanyl and exposed two Student Resource Officers as well as a school nurse. No other students were exposed.
According to the news outlet, the three people exposed were given Narcan and are in stable condition, and a 17-year-old student was taken into custody. The school will be closed through Thursday (December 2) to ensure the building is cleared of the narcotic.
Following the incident, Dr. Kristi Windsor, director of Monroe County Schools, issued a statement on the district's official Facebook page to alert parents of the events and outline steps the district plans to take to prevent this from happening in the future. This reportedly includes training faculty and staff on how to spot and respond to signs and symptoms of drug use.
"Moving forward, we will work hard to take steps to curb any drug issues in our schools, including the use of random drug dog searches both inside our schools and all around our school grounds," the post read, in part. "We are already working with local law enforcement to move ahead with that plan, and parents and students should expect to see those drug dogs at our schools on a frequent basis in the coming weeks and months."
Read Windsor's full remarks below.