SELINSGROVE — Despite Selinsgrove school district’s many academic and athletic accomplishments, the most recent news involved a student being taken to the hospital with drug problems.
The district says it is working to provide counseling and offer drug alcohol education programs, but Superintendent Chad Cohrs says there is only so much the district can do, “As a school we continue to deal with the societal ills that are out in the rest of the world, and as a school system as much as we try we can’t do it alone and so it really takes the parents and the community to be actively involved in the school system.”
Corhs says if a student is thought to be under in the influence the district reacts as if it is a medical emergency, “First thing is our school nurse takes a look at them, takes their vitals and if things don’t appear normal we do call the ambulance right away, because we’re not sure whether a student is coming down from a high or just starting to go up from a high and what their reactions are going to be. So, we do treat those as medical emergencies.”
In addition to substance abuse counseling and K-12 drug and alcohol education the district also conducts routine locker checks with area K-9 units and has Narcan on hand if needed. ( Sarah Benek )