CARROLLTON, Texas — On Thursday night, staff at Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD hosted an information meeting about fentanyl.
The meeting comes just four days after news broke that three students died and six were hospitalized from fentanyl overdoses since September 2022.
R.L. Turner High School resource officer Stefanovic addressed the crowd first.
He said parents need to read their kids' social media messages because that’s where most drug deals happen.
“Grab it… grab it and be blunt,” he told WFAA.
“It’s going to be blunt, but we have to have this conversation.”
Stefanovic said he wants all parents in Dallas-Fort Worth, not just in Carrollton, to check their kids’ phones.
“Don’t overlook this. Carrollton, it’s Carrollton’s issue today, it could be any suburb of Dallas, it can be Dallas’ issue tomorrow. Please look. Help me help the kids,” he added.
Stefanovic also addressed rumors circulating in the district.
None of the students who died, he clarified, died on campus. And while each school has Narcan available, it’s not been administered on any campus to date.
Other district staff talked about the basics of fentanyl: how students can’t see, taste or smell it, how little makes for a lethal dose, where kids can get drug tested and how parents should talk to their kids about it.
Many parents from out of town who lost their children to fentanyl came to the meeting too, gripping photos of their children tightly and sharing their stories of loss.
“[My son] thought they were oxycontin pills, he took one, and died within one minute,” Debbie Petersen told WFAA ahead of the meeting.
"There’s no way around it. You’re either gonna die or get addicted, and my daughter died,” Christina Pena added.
“I don’t want anything to happen to these kids anymore,” Judy Prez, who lost her son, told WFAA in tears.
“We haven’t got justice for our children, and coming out here, we’re hoping to save other lives,” Ofie Moreno said.
A handful of district parents expressed frustration that they learned about the deaths from the news and social media instead of from school officials, asking for better communication and transparency.