By Ashley M. Casey

Staff Writer

In the wake of a student’s suicide and the growing heroin epidemic, the Baldwinsville Central School District is strengthening its health education curriculum by expanding coverage of mental health and substance abuse issues.

Earlier this month, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a law requiring schools to include mental health in state-mandated health classes by 2018, but B’ville’s Acting Superintendent Matt McDonald said he would like to see the new curriculum implemented earlier.

“We’re hoping to get that up and running before ‘18. I’m hoping, in a perfect world, we will start that in September of ‘17,” McDonald said. “I like to stay one step ahead of everyone else.”

McDonald and other B’ville school officials are hoping the district’s mental health and substance abuse committee can create a more proactive culture instead of reacting to tragedy after the fact.

In March, 15-year-old Baker High School student Paige Bird died by suicide. Paige’s family started a petition urging state and federal lawmakers to mandate mental health and suicide education. The family also said the school district’s response to Paige’s death was inadequate, though B’ville made counselors available after Paige’s death.

“I hate to say this, but it was more of a reaction on the district’s behalf,” McDonald said of the creation of the mental health and substance abuse committees, which have merged into one group.

The committee’s first step in combating the two-headed beast of addiction and mental illness was hosting a pair of community forums on the dangers of opiate abuse, the most recent of which took place Oct. 17 at Word of Life Church. These forums featured local law enforcement, mental health and addiction experts and Deanna Axe, whose daughter died of a heroin-fentanyl overdose. Students in grades eight through 12 have attended similar presentations.

Elementary schools take on the topic

But raising awareness about the heroin epidemic is no longer enough. Now, the school district and the community are taking action. Attendees of the Oct. 17 forum could sign up for training on how to administer naloxone, or Narcan, which reverses the effect of an opioid overdose. School nurses in the BCSD have naloxone on hand and are trained to administer it.

“It isn’t something that you go to college for — Narcan training — or, to be honest, that you even anticipate to be part of your job,” said Danielle Nahorney, principal of Van Buren Elementary School.

Nahorney said the district’s office of curriculum and instruction is working with the health and physical education departments to weave information about mental health into curriculum from kindergarten through 12th grade.

“We want to make sure that it’s developmentally appropriate,” Nahorney said. “At the kindergarten level, something as simple as ‘Medicine helps you get better.’ [We’re] really starting to lay some of the groundwork.”

Nahorney said the elementary schools will also incorporate mental health concepts into their character education — which focuses on respect, responsibility and safety — and teach kids how to be safe at school and at home.

“We’re really taking how we can be safe as the bigger umbrella of how we can start to address those mental health related issues,” Nahorney said.

Palmer Elementary School has begun participating in the Positivity Project, which emphasizes a different positive character trait each week. Van Buren Elementary takes part in Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS), which uses evidence-based practices in preventive discipline and classroom management.

Secondary students will learn about the dangers of abusing prescription medication and how that can lead to illegal drug use. In fact, 80 percent of heroin users began with abusing opioid painkillers such as Vicodin or OxyContin.

At the secondary level, students are building relationships with law enforcement. The BCSD contracts with the Baldwinsville Police Department and the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office to station two school resource officers in the district. BPD Officer Marty Knaul is the SRO for Baker, and Deputy Michael Nord is stationed at Durgee Junior High School. McDonald said Knaul often addresses health classes.

“I see him as another counselor,” McDonald said. “I see him as a teacher.”

The district also will train teachers, administrators and non-instructional staff such as janitors and bus drivers to watch out for signs of mental illness and substance abuse in students.

“Bus drivers are the first face these kids see [each day] and the last face these kids see,” McDonald said. “They need to be educated as much as myself, a superintendent.”

McDonald said it is challenging to coordinate training for district employees because of contractual issues, overtime pay and funding sources for training. He said the board of education has been “very generous” in putting funds toward the effort.

“This isn’t going to be a one-and-done [effort],” McDonald said. “If we save one life, then this is all worth it.”

Police chief sees ‘ancillary issues’ of addiction

While the coming curriculum changes are important, law enforcement officers are the boots on the ground when it comes to dealing with mental illness and addiction in the community.

“Like most communities across the country, we’re not immune to the drug issue,” said BPD Chief Michael Lefancheck.

Lefancheck said medication and needle drop boxes — located at the Baldwinsville Village Hall and Canton Woods Senior Center — have been successful in preventing unused medication from entering the water supply or ending up in the hands of children and teenagers. The needle drop box, Lefancheck explained at a Sept. 15 village board of trustees meeting, is for any syringes, whether they come from those who use injectable medications such as insulin or intravenous drug users.

“It doesn’t matter who put them there; all that matters is that they’re there,” Lefancheck said. “It’s a really good program.”

Lefancheck, who has been with the BPD for 29 years, has seen drug-related issues climb in his roughly eight years as police chief.

“If you’d told me eight and a half years ago that that our officers would on a daily basis be dealing with heroin … I would have questioned your logic,” Lefancheck said. “But, clearly it is what is facing us now and we need to adapt and be aware that this is something we need to deal with.”

What has changed in those eight years? Lefancheck said the uptick in painkiller prescriptions has contributed to rise in heroin use.

Lefancheck said there is no particular area of Baldwinsville where drug issues have cropped up, but he has seen “ancillary issues” — such as burglary and other crimes — increase along with the opiate epidemic.

“We strongly suspect that they are [addicted] based on the nature of the crimes,” he said.

Baldwinsville police officers carry naloxone and have used it frequently this year. Lefancheck said his officers responded to three overdoses in the same home on the same night this past spring. He said heroin users in the area fall into a wide range of ages; while some are young adults (ages 19 to 25), he has seen users 50 and older. Thankfully, Lefancheck hasn’t seen many children affected in the overdoses to which he has responded.

“I wouldn’t say we’ve had too many instances of little kids being around,” he said.

Nahorney and McDonald said they personally have not seen drugs in the school district, but their goal is to “ensure that it doesn’t trickle down,” Nahorney said.

Within the community, Lefancheck said his officers have developed a rapport with the residents they protect. That includes students in the BCSD. At the May 19 presentation for high schoolers on the dangers of heroin, Lefancheck introduced students to the “TIP411” program, a non-emergency communication system that all Onondaga County police agencies have joined.

Anyone can send a text message, photo or video to the Baldwinsville Police Department by texting “TIPBVILLE” to 841-411. Messages are encrypted so senders may remain anonymous. Since there’s no way to know who is sending these messages, it’s hard to say how many students are using TIP411, but Lefancheck said it has saved at least one person’s life.

“One particular individual was in a state of crisis and had some feelings that they were considering hurting themselves,” Lefancheck said. “Our lieutenant, Michael Lockwood, was able to effectively communicate back and forth with that person and ultimately get that person to come forward and accept some help, all within a matter of about a half an hour. So just from that incident alone, I would consider that to be a tremendous success for the program.”