Pioneer Valley High School parent Vanessa Valadez first heard about possible drug overdoses on campus from her daughter, a freshman, rather than getting notified by administration.
“For me, it wasn’t that it was very surprising, but it was very concerning because we had no information,” Valadez said. “If we had more information, it would be a clearer situation. I see a lot of parents online who are angry and confused.”
Valadez and her husband called the school following an incident on March 6 to ask why parents hadn’t been immediately notified and to see if there was more information available. She said that the dean of students told the couple that the school was working on getting a statement but wanted to get the “wording right.”
“She was very helpful, but she didn’t know how to address us just yet,” Valadez said. “There’s also no information if the kids recovered; there’s a lot of rumors that one of the [students] died, but I don’t know because the school is not communicating with the parents.”
Santa Maria Police Sgt. Felix Diaz told the Sun that there have been nine total incidents at Pioneer Valley since October 2022 and all students survived.
“Of the nine, four were related to pills, two Narcan was used, and then three were unknown drugs the kid[s] had ingested,” Diaz said. “They weren’t all necessarily overdoses. The two that were more than likely overdoses were the ones where Narcan was administered.”
He explained that on March 6, Pioneer Valley High School officials called Emergency Medical Services (EMS) for an unconscious student. EMS arrived at the school and administered Narcan—an opioid antagonist that reverses an overdose’s effects—and transported the student to the hospital, he said.
Two weeks later, on March 20, another Pioneer Valley student went unconscious during class; the school went on lockdown and called EMS—which arrived, administered Narcan, and transported the student to the hospital, Valadez said, citing an automated call she got from the school on March 23.
“I understand the school has no control—if the kids [want] to take drugs, they are going to take drugs—but what they can control is the information they let parents know,” Valadez said. “It’s not the school’s fault, but a call would be nice.”
Now, community nonprofits and city officials are working with the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District (SMJUHSD) to provide more educational opportunities to high schoolers and the community about opioids—specifically fentanyl, a synthetic opiate 50 times more potent than heroin that’s often mixed with other drugs.
The total number of overdoses SMJUHSD sites have experienced this school year remains unclear. On March 30, Valadez said that she hadn’t yet heard from the district regarding any educational opportunities or how they will ensure student safety.
“Kids do need more information, but parents would like to know that the school is providing this type of information,” she said. “Our kids are in school for eight hours or more; it’s just one of those situations [where] we want to know that our kids are safe at Pioneer.”
Data unavailable
At Santa Maria High School, two drug-related incidents occurred in late January and early to mid-February, with one involving fentanyl and the other possibly involving methamphetamine, Santa Maria Police Sgt. Diaz said.
The district’s remaining high schools—Delta and Ernest Righetti—fall in the unincorporated areas of Santa Barbara County, so the Santa Maria Police Department doesn’t respond to those calls or track the corresponding data, he said.
Raquel Zick, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office public information officer, told the Sun that the Sheriff’s Office doesn’t have the data because overdoses are medical emergencies that deputies respond to as an “outside agency assist.”
“The primary agency is medics, so EMSA [Emergency Medical Services Agency] would have the information you are looking for,” Zick said in an email.
The Sun sent a data request to EMSA—which is overseen by the county Public Health Department—for the total number of calls EMSA received from all SMJUHSD schools during the 2022-23 school year, and if those numbers could be broken down by individual high schools.
Rynn Schumacher, the county Public Health Department’s public information officer, said in an email that both entities abide by Safe Harbor Provision laws, which are in place to protect patient privacy and limits the ways patient data can be shared.
‘For me, it wasn’t that it was very surprising, but it was very concerning because we had no information. … If we had more information, it would be a clearer situation. I see a lot of parents online who are angry and confused.’
—Vanessa Valadez, Pioneer Valley High parent
“Patient data [is] considered PHI (Protected Health Information), is required to be kept secure including identifying information such as names, birth dates, addresses, and Social Security numbers,” Schumacher said in an email. “While you are not directly asking for this information, the numbers of your request is relatively small enough to deduce and connect back to the patients.”
Pioneer Valley Principal Shanda Herrera did not respond to the Sun’s multiple inquiries for comment.
Kenny Klein, the high school district’s public information officer, told the Sun in an email that confidentiality prohibits him from commenting on personal student matters.
“In general, if a student exhibits symptoms of what may appear to be an opioid exposure, there are trained staff at every site, and Narcan is available to administer before medical personnel arrive,” Klein said. “The data you are requesting is not available as it would come from a physician’s diagnosis.”
Countywide, the number of opioid-related hospital visits for 15- to 19-year-olds more than tripled from nine visits in 2019 to 30 visits in 2021. Overdose deaths more than doubled between 2020 and 2021 with 18 deaths for the same age group, according to previous Sun reporting.
According to a January 2023 Naloxone Usage Report from the county Public Health Department, EMSA reported 374 unduplicated suspected opioid overdoses in 2022. The information wasn’t broken down by age or specific demographics.
A community effort
Santa Maria Police officers will normally approach patients, depending on their medical condition, following an overdose and conduct an interview to get more information on where the drugs came from and backtrack from there, Sgt. Diaz said.
“We’ve been working on finding ways to curtail things of that nature and with Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley for more presentations on the dangers of drugs,” he said.
Diaz added that there have been more discussions surrounding school security and safety, but said that he couldn’t go into detail.
Santa Maria Police Sgt. Daniel Rios, who runs the detective bureau, said that the Police Department assigned detectives to some of the cases and are working collaboratively with Pioneer Valley to investigate the overdoses.
“If any crimes are established, we will seek prosecution against those supplying drugs to minors and things like that,” Rios said.
Fighting Back Santa Maria Valley Executive Director Edwin Weaver said that his organization will continue to work with the district to provide presentations that inform students about the opioid crisis, he said.
“I can’t comment specifically about anyone’s medical issues, but I can say we do have a fentanyl problem in the Santa Maria Valley. It seems to mostly be in the high schools, and from what we can tell, it’s mostly a fentanyl poisoning issue,” Weaver said.
The presentations are designed to inform students about fentanyl’s lethal impacts, he said.
“We’re not trying to scare anybody straight or tell them to just say ‘no.’ It’s literally a poison that will kill them and that’s it. There’s nothing else to add,” he said.
Now, in partnership with Santa Maria Mayor Alice Patino, Fighting Back will host opioid informational presentations at town hall meetings. No meetings had been scheduled as of April 6.
The presentations will include the Police Department’s perspective on the law enforcement side; a physician will come in to discuss fentanyl and the high risks associated with adolescents; and county Behavioral Wellness will discuss addiction, how to look for signs of untreated mental health conditions, and county mental health resources to combat these issues, Weaver said.
“We want to make sure parents understand what they can do to protect their children,” he said.
Mayor Patino added that these meetings will take place in the four different quadrants of the city to make them more accessible for all neighborhoods. She said that it’s important for everyone, including those who don’t have students in the district, to be informed.
“We have to be a part of that education process with these kids,” Patino said. “The lack of education as far as fentanyl goes inhibits our ability to attack the problem, and we need to attack it together.”
Reach Staff Writer Taylor O’Connor at toconnor@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Apr 13-23, 2023.
