Classes resume at Sport and Medical Sciences Academy after no traces of fentanyl found

By AYAH GALAL, EVAN SOBOL, MARCY JONES

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    HARTFORD, Connecticut (WFSB) — The Sport and Medical Sciences Academy in Hartford opened for class Wednesday, but with a two hour delay.

Officials said the delay was so teachers and staff could meet and prepare for the students’ return following the death of a 13-year-old who overdosed on fentanyl last week.

They said that no traces of fentanyl were found at the school Tuesday.

They also said they worked to create a safety and re-entry plan for students.

School officials said they would have 14 additional district support staff on site, including social workers and counselors.

Therapy dogs would also be available throughout the day. In addition, midterms have been postponed.

Additional safety measures included a safety officer onsite and a patrol car from the Hartford Police Department. The patrol car will be present during the arrival and dismissal for the remainder of the week.

There will also be random safety screenings, which will include bag searches and no-touch wanding, according to school officials.

A student passed away over the weekend after ingesting the fentanyl on Thursday.

Police say 40 bags of fentanyl were discovered at the school and an investigation is ongoing.

“In the wake of this, we are working as a community to make sure that we are expanding education and awareness efforts, everywhere we can in every part of our community,” said Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin.

The Hartford City Council has been working on launching a new task force to work with the community and prevent future tragedies from happening.

Monday night, the school met with families to address the tragedy.

“This drug fentanyl can show up in disguise in many different forms. We need to make sure that our kids know that,” Bronin said. “We need to make sure that our parents know that.”

“The city of Hartford is dear to our hearts and we will do whatever it takes and bring in whatever resources we need for it to be a safer city,” said City Council president Maly Rosado.

That included thinking about where Narcan is available.

The life-saving medication can reverse effects of an opioid overdose.

“We should be thinking about how we can make it available in schools, in other city buildings, really anywhere and everywhere where the city has reach. We should be making it available and we should be training our folks to administer it,” said councilman Joshua Michtom.

Hartford Public Schools are not currently equipped with Narcan.

Mark Jenkins, executive director of the Connecticut Harm Reduction Alliance, said he wants to see Narcan more readily available in communities and public spaces.

“We just want to make sure that we can remove the stigma. Begin to move towards some language, some inclusivity of different populations,” Jenkins said.

School officials announced Monday evening that classes were canceled for the school on Tuesday.

Walls and floors of the Sport and Medical Science Academy were decontaminated.

The school received air filters for the spaces where the fentanyl was discovered.

Over the weekend, samples from the school were taken to a lab for further testing.

Samples indicated that one room came slightly over the detection limit, officials said.

The Sport and Medical Science Academy offered counseling for students on Tuesday.

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