THC/CBD and Nicotine Products

Parents, Guardians and Members of the Community,

I am coming to you once again to seek your assistance on an important issue that is plaguing our schools. Students continue to bring and use illegal substances such as nicotine, CBD and THC at school. This issue is most severe at WCMS and WCHS.  At the beginning of this year principals and I sent out communications about the changes to the code of conduct that were implemented to help combat these issues. Despite those warnings we are still seeing students bringing and using these substances at alarming rates. Today I ask, once again, that you talk to your students about the possession and use of CBD, THC and nicotine. Students purchase these locally, from one another and adults. They also share devices like vapes containing these substances among each other throughout the school day. The use of these products has led to medical issues for a number of students already this year. Student and staff safety is our primary concern and we must take steps to alleviate this issue. To that end, in the coming days and weeks we will be ramping up our efforts to locate these drugs in our schools and those that use them. This will include adjusting the sensitivity of our weapons detections systems so that they detect smaller objects. As a reminder, students who are found to be in possession of any of these substances are in violation of the Webster County Schools Code of Conduct and may also be subject to law enforcement intervention. School level consequences for the possession and use of these drugs are serious and can include placement in the alternative school and even expulsion. The best place for our students to be is in classrooms, unimpaired. Again, please talk to your children and help us eliminate this issue. Thank you for your support of our students and Webster County Schools.