Fifth Hays CISD student dead from suspected fentanyl overdose

On Jan. 3, two days before the start of the spring semester, a 14-year-old student from Hays CISD was found unconscious in her San Marcos home. Life-saving measures were performed but were unsuccessful. While toxicology reports are still pending, an accidental fentanyl overdose is suspected, according to the city of San Marcos.

If confirmed, she will be the fifth and youngest student from HCISD to die from a fentanyl overdose in the past six months. While the district has not released the student's name or which school she attended, HCISD Chief Communication Officer Tim Savoy said this would mean that the district has lost a student from each of the three high schools.

There were also an additional three suspected fentanyl overdoses that occurred during the Christmas break in students as young as seventh grade. All three students survived.

Fentanyl has become the No. 1 leading cause of death in people ages 18-45, according to the Texas National Guard. Additionally, 99% of fentanyl overdoses are accidental.

HCISD has been battling fentanyl since last summer, when two 17-year-olds and two 15-year-olds died from suspected overdoses.

The district has created a series of videos about the deadly opioid that include parents who have lost a child to fentanyl. The most recent video is security footage of EMS responding to an overdose that occurred in late September behind a HCISD campus.

"We have more videos coming out, and we have posters that we put up at the secondary [schools], and then we even designed [a poster] for the elementary [schools]," Savoy said. "We have taken the stance, all along, that not talking about it is not helpful."

The idea for the videos is to educate students, parents and the community as a whole. He added that while data is important, it depersonalizes the deaths.

"I guess we'll never know how many kids didn't take a pill because of the campaign," Savoy said.