MEEKER I Officials at Barone Middle School and the Meeker Police Department both report that there have been two incidents of students bringing non-prescribed prescription narcotics to the school and distributing them to other students. At least one student has been charged and three were hospitalized, but the names of all students involved are being withheld because they are juveniles.
According to a preliminary statement by Meeker Police Chief Bob Hervey, the first incident on Dec. 1 involved two female juveniles, one of whom allegedly brought the prescription drugs to school and gave them to another student.
Upon further investigation, Police Lt. Phil Stubblefield later gave details that the 12-year-old student allegedly gave narcotic pills to the 13-year-old. Both girls were transported to Pioneers Medical Center at that time.
The 12-year-old female was later summoned into District Juvenile Court.
An investigation into the second incident on Dec. 17 is still ongoing, but it involved a possible drug overdose of a 13-year-old male student who had taken prescription narcotics, Stubblefield said, adding that he allegedly got the pills from a 13-year old female student who received the pills from a 12-year-old female student.
Meeker Volunteer Fire and Rescue responded and transported the male student to the hospital because of his obvious symptoms. “The 12 year-old female was taken into custody for a juvenile evaluation to determine if she should remain in custody,” Stubblefield said.
In both incidents, information on where the students originally got the drugs has not been released.
Stubblefield also said that he can assure the community that even before the Dec. 17 incident Meeker Police had already arranged to do a Drug Safety and Awareness Class for all middle school students the week of Jan. 15.
“Meeker Police encourages parents and grandparents to keep prescriptions locked away,” Stubblefield said.
While these incidents are obviously cause for concern, BMS Principal Jim Hanks was optimistic.
“This is a fantastic school; the kids in this school are outstanding,” he said.
Addressing these two incidents specifically, Hanks said, “Out of about 200 kids, maybe five kids are struggling with their identity, struggling with what’s right and wrong. Everybody tests the boundaries.”
When asked about monitoring student activities to guard against future incidents such as these, Hanks said, “We are always watching the kids and monitoring behavior. The middle school design is about building personal relationships with kids. It’s then pretty easy to see when behaviors change.”
Hanks added, “I’m not saying we catch it all the time. We hope we do, but that’s a tough thing. You know, marijuana is legal now. That doesn’t make our job any easier.”
When asked how these incidents might concern parents and the community, Hanks said, “We are trying to meet the needs of everybody. We try to communicate with the parents and the community to the best of our ability. At the end of the day, our No. 1 (priority) is the safety of kids.”
Hanks made it a point to say that during the last few years, BMS has gone from a C-grade school to a B-grade because of “the hard work and dedication of the students and staff.”
“Out of 505 middle schools in Colorado, we are rated by this organization at No. 146,” he said. “We still have a ways to go to be the best, but we are on the way and you should be proud of your efforts.”
