Sue Sitter/PCT Public Health Nurse Samantha Wentz describes how to use Narcan, a medication to treat opiate overdose at the Rugby Public School Board’s regular meeting April 11.

Policies to address health, safety and state laws for libraries took up much of the discussion at the Rugby Public School Board’s regular monthly meeting April 11 in the Rugby High School library.

Pierce County Lake Region District Health Unit Nurse Samantha Wentz came to the board to request a policy to place Narcan, a drug used to treat opiate overdose, in Rugby schools.

“Basically, last week, we had an alert from the hospital that there’s fentanyl in our community, which is scary, but we know it’s around. It’s in this state,” Wentz said.

Holding a box containing the medication, she said, “It’s nasal spray for someone who has overdosed.”

Wentz requested permission to give 10-minute training sessions to teachers and other staff such as school secretaries to administer the medication.

“I’d like to have it in both buildings,” she said. “Ely as well, because there are lots of community members come in, lots of parents.”

“Hopefully, we never have to use this, but we keep epinephrine on hand in Epi-Pens,” she said. “We keep AEDs in case there’s a cardiac emergency. This is just something else we can keep on hand in case there’s an emergency.”

Wentz said the public health district already provides Pierce County and Rugby law enforcement agencies, the local jail and the pharmacies with Narcan for free.

“In the case we had in Pierce County, this is hearsay, (the patient) thought they were taking an Oxycontin, and it had fentanyl in it,” she said. “The people who make these illegal drugs use fentanyl because it’s cheap.”

She added local pharmacies were also hoping to make Narcan more accessible to the public.

Wentz said fentanyl’s presence in the community meant that children of all ages could possibly come into contact with it accidentally, making it necessary to keep Narcan available wherever possible.

“Narcan’s pretty safe,” Board Chair Dustin Hager, who works as a physician’s assistant said, adding those giving it should be aware of side effects such as vomiting.

Wentz said North Dakota Century Code protects those administering the medication from legal liability, and those who overdose from criminal liability, unless other crimes were committed in relation to drug use.

The board voted to approve new policies and procedures for administering Narcan, designating personnel to give the drug, and documenting its use.

Because the board determined the need to have the drug on hand was critical, it voted to waive a requirement for a first reading before putting the policy in place.

Library issues

The board also heard from District Librarian Jessica Fritz, who described her role in teaching children to access information.

Fritz addressed the effects of North Dakota House Bill 1205 and Senate Bill 2360 which seem likely to pass in the current legislative session. The bills aim to eliminate sexually explicit content from libraries where children visit.

“One of the things I’ve become aware of is nationwide, the push to ban books, certain books,” she said. “It’s become very ugly, to say the least at times, and it’s become very sad.”

“Times have changed, and our kids are exposed to more than we realize through technology,” Fritz said. “Even at our state level, they’re looking to ban a lot of books. If these laws go through that are currently still being debated, in our high school alone, we will probably have to get rid of between 6,000 and 7,000 books.”

“And they’re not even giving us a clear-cut list of books, like here’s a list of what you can’t have.”

She said the bills’ requirements to remove references to relationship behavior could put books such as the Bible on the ban list.

“It says any book on gender identity, sexual identity, any sort of relationship, if people are dating and it says, ‘I kissed a boy,’ that would have to be removed,” she added.

“It’s really vague, and it’s not written well. I’m really struggling with it,” Fritz said.

Fritz said she and assistant Denise Myhre keep age-appropriateness in mind when choosing books for grade levels.

Fritz added books that sparked concern in the state about school libraries such as “Let’s Talk About It: The Teen’s Guide to Sex, Relationships and Being a Human” have never been available in Rugby school libraries.

McNeff predicted the school library bills would pass.

Legislative concerns

Other bills in the state legislature followed by Rugby school board members include SB 2284, which might increase per-pupil payments from the state department of public instruction, and HB 1532, which allows for school vouchers to help families pay for children’s private school tuition.

McNeff said the bill had received a “Do Pass” recommendation in the House before some modifications in the Senate such as placing income restrictions on eligibility. McNeff said he hoped “the bill is killed.”

He added the district was monitoring bills pertaining to school transportation.

McNeff and Hager also said they were closely monitoring SB 2231, which requires teachers to obtain parental permission to use pronouns relating to trans teens’ preferred identities.

Gov. Doug Burgum vetoed the bill March 30 after it passed in the legislature.

Other business

In other business, the board approved principals’ reports from Ely Elementary and Rugby High Schools and bills and financials from March.

Members approved a ballot for the June 13 school board election with a unanimous vote. Matt Randall will run as the candidate for Precinct 3, while Leah Harper will run for a vacancy in Precinct 4.

The board also unanimously approved a second reading of Critical Race Theory policy. The theory is not taught in Rugby Public Schools.

Parents will be able to review instructional materials they have concerns about by contacting the school where the content is used, fill out a request form for the specific materials and set a time to review them within 30 days of completion of the form.

In his monthly report, McNeff said the district had applied to participate in a program for rural schools through Transcend Education. The program is designed to expand learning opportunities for students and help them engage with businesses and other organizations within their community.

He added teachers from Rugby and Towner school districts were in their third semester of the Teacher Leadership Academy, a program that offers advanced education for teachers. McNeff noted the district had applied for several grants including a literacy grant to expand reading programs in place, plus a $120,000 Homeland Security grant to upgrade school building safety.

McNeff said he and administrators were evaluating the district’s remote learning policy, which had been put to use during a blizzard April 5.

Other topics in his report included hiring a part-time social worker for the district and keeping the school foundation’s legacy fund going after completion of the Ely Elementary School campus expansion.

Jason Gullickson, principal of Ely Elementary School, said workers had recently put-up drywall on the new portions of the school building.

Board member Kris Blessum suggested visiting the site in May.

Dawn Hauck, district business manager, reported finances in school accounts “are tracking well,” however, she said she anticipated a need to transfer money from the district’s general fund to the school lunch fund due to cost increases. “I haven’t had to do that so far,” she said.

Hauck noted she had attended an annexation meeting with members of Pierce County and Bottineau County government, who considered a request from Bottineau County resident Alan Fosness to add his land to the Rugby School District.

Fosness had made the request in order for his children to receive bus transportation to Rugby schools.

All representatives for Pierce County, plus one Bottineau County representative approved the annexation, resulting in a majority vote.

However, due to state regulations, since the Bottineau County representatives did not agree to annex the land, the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction refused to consider the petition.

McNeff said the annexation would possibly result in a revenue loss to Bottineau County of about $500 to $700 per year.

He added he had contacted Bottineau Superintendent of Schools Pat Brenden to find an equitable solution to the matter such as possibly trading land between districts.

McNeff noted annexation requests would also be discussed with Pierce and McHenry Counties, and Rolette and Pierce Counties for residents who wanted bus transportation for their children. No date had been set for those county meetings.