More information discovered in Onslow County middle school gummies incident with school board questioning how it was handled
More information has been made available about a group of Northwoods Park Middle School students who became ill last week after sharing gummy snacks.
On Jan. 9 at approximately 10:40 a.m., a group of Northwoods Park Middle School students shared gummy snacks that led to them becoming ill, according to previous The Daily News reporting.
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Onslow County Schools Chief Communications Officer Brent Anderson said in an email to The Daily News that students who presented as ill were evaluated by the school nurse.
He said EMS was not called but that in situations where students are sent home not feeling well, the school nurse recommends that parents follow up with their medical provider if they have additional concerns. He said they would make the same recommendation when parents are called about student injuries or illness during other times of the school day.
However, in emails acquired by The Daily News between Superintendent Administrative Assistant Jodie Ramsey, Onslow County school board members and Northwoods Park Middle School Principal Carl Cruthis, Cruthis told Ramsey he called the parents of the five students the afternoon of the incident to check in and discovered they had gone to the emergency room for care.
The Daily News asked about policies and procedures when it comes to incidents like this that bring into question the possibility of a drug overdose.
Anderson said all OCS campuses have Narcan boxes and administration at each site has been trained in the use of them. He said it would be appropriate to administer Narcan if an individual were unresponsive. In this incident, though, the students were sick, not unresponsive, and it was determined Narcan was not needed.
Additionally, concerns about who was notified and when they were notified about the incident arose the following week.
School board chair Bill Lanier told The Daily News in an email that Cruthis notified the superintendent's office on the day of the incident. However, because the incident was deemed isolated at the time, the school board didn't receive notification until Friday, Jan. 13.
Anderson said the school did not initially make a school-wide call home to inform parents about the incident, only parents of the students identified as being impacted. School board member Louis Rogers was particularly upset about the late notification the board received, according to email correspondence.
In an email acquired by The Daily News, Rogers told Ramsey, "I am not convinced that any reasonable staff would believe that multiple students being taken to the hospital after ingesting gummies did not warrant the immediate notification of parents, as well as the board. We had students at a hospital at the direction of school staff and someone failed to inform the proper channels."
Rogers also inquired to clarify the number of students impacted. A total of five students ate the gummies and discovered a sixth student was involved and was said to be the one to have bought the gummies to the school. However, email correspondence showed the sixth student did not ingest the snacks.
Rogers went on to say in the email that district communication with the board should be an immediate area of focus after this event and that moving forward, he hopes "this failure to make the appropriate decision to communicate with both the board and parents reestablishes a standard of dialogue as it pertains to informing the board of district issues."
Anderson said a school-wide call was made by Cruthis on Friday evening to share information about the incident, inform parents of the Jacksonville Police Department's ongoing investigation and to encourage parents to speak with their children about the dangers of accepting any food or drink without knowing what it contains.
Lanier said that several board members expressed concerns over the timeliness of receiving the information and feel that broader notification was warranted in this case. He added this has been shared with the superintendent and staff are working on processes to keep the board informed of incidents happening across the school district.
An email from Ramsey to school board members said that while they can confirm the items ingested were not appropriate, particularly for the age of the students, school staff has not received confirmation that the gummies contained any illegal substances.
"We would join the Northwoods Park principal in encouraging parents to speak with their children about the dangers of accepting any type of food or beverages from others without knowing what it may contain," Lanier said. "I would add that anyone being offered something which they know may contain something illicit or illegal, that they think twice before accepting it and making a decision which could have huge personal consequences for their health and future."
Lanier added that while the board cannot comment on the specifics of any consequences given, appropriate disciplinary actions have been applied. He went on to say the principal and other district staff have been working with JPD in their ongoing investigation. Once that is complete, additional disciplinary and legal consequences will be applied as necessary.
After the news broke regarding the incident, a claim was made on social media saying a similar incident took place at Hunter Creek Middle School the same week. When asked about the incident, Anderson explained the school system did not have any information another incident.
Reporter Morgan Starling can be reached at mstarling@jdnews.com.
This article originally appeared on The Daily News: More information discovered in Onslow County middle school gummies incident with school board questioning how it was handled
