Students Arrested, Hospitalized in Separate Incidents at LCHS

Two students were arrested and three students were transported to the hospital in separate incidents last week at La Cañada High School campus.
In unrelated occurrences Wednesday, two students were brought to the hospital with what La Cañada Unified School District Superintendent Wendy Sinnette labeled “medication-related health emergencies.”
An 18-year-old male student was arrested that same day for having provided drugs to one of those hospitalized students; he faces charges of child endangerment and possession of a controlled substance for sales, according to Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s officials.
After posting bond Wednesday, the student — who had been suspended — returned to campus without permission at 8:45 a.m. Friday, according to Sinnette. In an email to parents, she wrote that the “student entered the office and began to seize. Site administration immediately called 911 and the paramedics came. The student was transported to the hospital.”
In an email to the Outlook on Monday, Sinnette added: “The administration immediately had the situation under control and the student was contained in the administrative offices, so no lockdown was required.”
Also on Friday, a minor female student was arrested after drugs were discovered in her possession, Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Lt. Mark Slater said.
“Based on a student tip, it was learned today that a minor LCHS student was in possession of illegal substances and other paraphernalia on campus,” Sinnette wrote in another email to parents. Slater said drugs were found in the female student’s car and that she was released to her parents, pending a future juvenile hearing.
All of the students who were hospitalized are recovering, Sinnette wrote in an email to The Outlook on Monday.
According to Sheriff’s Deputy Eric Matejka, the student who was arrested is suspected of having provided Xanax to one of the students hospitalized Wednesday following what Slater described as a possible suicide attempt.
“He’s doing better,” said Matejka, the school’s resource officer, on Thursday. “He’s conscious and breathing and everything. It was a serious condition at the time.”
In his 16 years working in La Cañada Flintridge, Matejka said he can’t recall a pair of medication-related health emergencies occurring at LCHS on the same day.
“That was very out of the norm,” he said, suggesting that parents seek out information on current drug trends. “If we can get parents educated, they can look to prevent things in the beginning and can be informed to what’s out there.”
He also said that incidents like Wednesday’s could serve as an impetus for fellow students to report concerns.
“A lot of kids use drugs socially, in high school and college,” Matejka said. “But they can take the wrong amount and they can hurt themselves or someone else. So if they see something, they can let us know, either straight up or anonymously. They can leave a tip or leave a note at the principal’s office or talk to me or [head of security] Tanya [Wilson], we’ll talk to you confidentially … and that way we can help protect the community.”
The LCUSD Governing Board discussed the situation at its meeting Tuesday, when an agenda item sought to examine the issues, problems and concerns in an effort to determine what more the district can do to address student needs.