Fentanyl pills found on a bus chartered by D60 for 4th grade field trip
PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) - Pills containing fentanyl were discovered aboard a bus that was chartered by a Pueblo elementary school to take students on a field trip.
On March 12, 4th graders at Pueblo District 60's (D60) Highland Park Elementary visited the Denver Aquarium, arriving and departing on a Ramblin Express bus that was chartered by the district.
Sarah McCraw, whose son was a student on the bus that day, said she got a call from the school district on March 13 stating that the driver of the Ramblin bus that had transported her son's class on the field trip found blue pills on the floor of the bus after returning to the business's Colorado Springs location.
"I immediately started panicking and thinking I need to get to him as soon as possible to make sure he doesn't have any of these [pills] on him,” explained McCraw.
The district's full phone call transcript to each parent of that class reads:
"Today, our school was contacted by the Colorado Springs Police and they informed us that a number of pills were found on the chartered bus used for yesterday’s fourth grade field trip which turned out to contain fentanyl. Although the police do not believe that these were brought on board by any of our students, I am contacting you because we are concerned that our students could have picked a pill up and taken it home. We are asking you to speak with your student and ensure that they did not take a pill with them. If you do discover that they have a pill, please do not touch it and contact the Pueblo Police Department immediately as fentanyl can be dangerous when touched or consumed. The police department will come to you to handle and discard the pill safely. The Pueblo Police Department can be reached at Phone (719) 553-2502"
District 60 Administration
D60 also sent a district-wide email, saying:
"We were notified by the Colorado Springs Police Department that a substance believed to have been left on a chartered bus tested positive for fentanyl. The bus that transported elementary students to a field trip to Denver was chartered from a third party and not a District school bus. The Parents and Guardians of students on the trip were notified. The safety of our students is always our top priority, and a situation such as this is very concerning."
District 60 Administration
A spokesperson for Ramblin Express says that they called the Colorado Springs Police Department around 6 pm on the evening of March 12, alerting them of the blue pills the driver had found on the floor of the bus.
They were told officers could not come out until the next day, March 13.
Ramblin Express said that CSPD later confirmed the pills contained fentanyl.
From there, CSPD contacted District 60 to alert them of the news, prompting the phone calls and emails that were sent out.
“It would have just taken one dare or one little curious mind, and there would have been children overdosing on the interstate," said McCraw. "I highly doubt the teacher would have known, 'I better bring Narcan on this trip, the kids might find fentanyl.'" she added.
Included in their statement to KRDO13, Ramblin Express explained:
"The bus had been cleaned thoroughly during the overnight hours of March 11 – 12. The cleaning process includes wiping down between the seats, cleaning out the overhead compartment, dumping the lavatory, disinfecting the entire bus and washing out the bus floor. The bus had been inspected the morning of March 12th and was deemed clean."
Spokesperson for Ramblin Express
McCraw says she was told by District personnel, and through the accounts of her own son, that students had been finding and pulling items out of the seats, including combs, and other hygiene items, as well as money.
"They really need to raise their standards of what cleaning and inspecting is, because there was clearly pills on that bus before those children ever got on it," said McCraw.
The mother of three says she and other parents are angry and are now forced to be hyper-vigilant about their children's safety in regard to any future field trips.
"As far as Ramblin charter busses, I'm not satisfied with them at all. I'm disgusted." explained McCraw, "I hope no other district in the state decides to contract with them anymore because they're clearly negligent," she said.
McCraw says if other parents haven't warned their kids yet about the dangers of unknown pills, or things that look like candy, they should have that conversation.
"Like the district said, just simply picking up one of those pills could have killed a child. So it's so important for parents to make their kids aware of how dangerous these drugs are."
