Jonathan Raymond is Unfit to Serve as New Rochelle Superintendent over False Fentanyl Narrative

NEW ROCHELLE, NY (February 7, 2023) — New Rochelle Schools Superintendent Jonathan P. Raymond, along with members of his medical staff, have continued to push a false fentanyl narrative well past its expiration date; the claim that a high school student was saved from death by opioid overdose because nurses at New Rochelle High School administered Narcan is a complete and total lie.

Over the past month, I have done extensive reporting and published over 75 pages based on that reporting:

No Opioids Found in Vaping Student Given Narcan at New Rochelle High School, Police Say

A Primer on Fentanyl Overdoses and Related Toxicology – Introduction

Based on that reporting my conclusions are as follows:

Words in Edgewise is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Narcan (a brand of naloxone) is an opioid antagonist; it is promoted as safe to give a person who might be overdosing on opioids because it otherwise has no effect on a person.

There was no fentanyl; a type of opioid.

There was no opioids at all.

As there were no opioids in her system, the naloxone had no effect on the student; therefore the nurses did not save the student from an opioid overdose.

The student does appear to have had an overdose of THC Oil, not fentanyl.

THC Oil is a highly concentrated form of tetrahydrocannabinol, the chemical that gets users high from marijuana; it contains 80% THC, many times more THC than found in a marijuana plant.

The student did not take one hit off a vape pen with a cartridge of fentanyl-laced marijuana: she took two or three hits off a vape pen with THC Oil.

THC Oil is a legal product in New York State for people 21 years and older.

An overdose of THC Oil is not fatal; the person becomes heavily sedated then wakes up as the THC wears off.

There remain numerous other confused and contradictory elements to Raymond’s phony fentanyl story.

To understand why, it is important to understand why the Superintendent would chose the afternoon of January 9th to concoct and then aggressively push his false narrative.

What was he trying to accomplish for himself?

Once it’s understood why Raymond concocted the fentanyl narrative, the depravity of what he did becomes clear; Raymond exploited the private medical distress of a young girl in his care to distract from his soon to be public resignation as Superintendent halfway through his contract. He turned the girl into a poster-child for fentanyl overdoses in schools to serve his own ends. In the process, he damaged anew the reputation of a still reeling New Rochelle High School by inexplicably flogging the idea that New Rochelle schools are the best place in Westchester for students to OD on opioids.

It is impossible to see how such a person should remain one more minute as Superintendent. The New Rochelle Board of Education must remove him from his position immediately before he does more harm.

Even this week — four weeks since the incident— Raymond invited CBS News back into New Rochelle High School to push his tall tale even though CBS News followed up on my reporting 3 weeks ago to report there were no opioids involved.

Having become addicted to the fake fentanyl narrative he created — and been caught in a lie by the New Rochelle Police Department then exposed by my reporting in Talk of the Sound — he cannot let it go.

I did email Superintendent Raymond on January 13 with questions and a request that he own up to what he had done.

Mr. Raymond,

I think you owe the school community an immediate explanation — and a statement clarifying the facts especially that there was no fentanyl found in the student’s system.

NRPD Captain Coyne emailed me on Wednesday at 9:09 am and stated “the latest information we received was that there were no opioids in the student’s system”. As this was a shocking (to me) statement I attempted to report on this on background before ultimately running a story on Thursday.

If NRPD knew within less than 48 hours that there was no fentanyl and all that implies, when did YOU know there was no fentanyl? It occurs to me this was likely known Monday afternoon as testing for fentanyl would be a top priority at the ER at WMC.

Why has there been no statement from you walking back your statement on Monday or otherwise correcting the record or correcting your many media interviews or any effort to reach out to reporters including me to correct the significant misreporting that has gone all week.

As I stated in my article yesterday, none of this is to say that the nurse’s involved should not be credited for calling 911 or administering Narcan out of an abundance of caution; or that having Narcan available in schools is not a not good thing; or the vaping is not unhealthy; or that children should consume alcohol or drugs. The issue here is you put out a false narrative, spun up further by a gullible media, to create hysteria to no apparent purpose.

There is a history here going back to the student v student West End Shooting a year ago where you sent me knowingly false information about the enrollment status of the alleged shooter. As then, I do not appreciate being used by you to push a false narrative.

Please immediately issue a statement correcting the record. I will appreciate it if you either answer my questions directly or address them in your statement.

Robert Cox

Talk of the Sound

Instead of coming clean he has doubled-down and then doubled-down again.

Here are a few other questions:

• If a vape pen with fentanyl was passed around among several students, how come no one else got sick?
• How many of those involved in the recent Narcan nonsense were part of the botched response to the Bryan Stamps stabbing in 2018?
• If anyone in the District actually believed there was fentanyl at New Rochelle High School why was there no effort to locate the vape pen? No lockdown/no lockout, no hold in place? No use of the CCTV system with facial recognition to track all involved parties? Why no effort to track the source of the vape pen?

Sadly, Raymond is once again demonstrating his willingness to lie to the New Rochelle school community, the media and the world to push a false narrative in the most grievous circumstances to suit his own purposes.

First, it was weeks of denying that a shooting victim was an enrolled student at New Rochelle High School. More recently it has been weeks of implying without foundation that an enrolled student at New Rochelle High School overdosed on fentanyl-laced marijuana.

On January 25, 2022, Raymond falsely claimed that Julian Oliveros, who died after a shooting in the West End, was not an enrolled student at New Rochelle High School.

Tommy Rivera was arrested and charged with the murder of Oliveros.

Raymond described Oliveros as “a young person who previously attended New Rochelle High School”.

Moments after Raymond issued his false statement, New Rochelle High School Principal Dagberto Artiles issued a true statement contradicting Raymond: “...one of New Rochelle High School’s enrolled students was involved in an incident in the community that resulted in his death.”

Raymond continued to lie about the enrollment status of Oliveros for weeks and ignored entirely court filings by Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah that strongly suggested Rivera had the gun used to kill Oliveros with him at the high school before he allegedly ambushed Oliveros as their pair were returning home from school that afternoon.

READ: Two Very Different Responses to Very Similar Murders

When Raymond, under pressure for the different treatment of the murder of a Hispanic student and Valaree Schwab, a White student, held a belated town-hall meeting at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School on February 9, 2022 he came clean about Oliveros, opening the meeting by admitting “Julian and Tommy were New Rochelle High School students...”.

Ironically, Raymond was seated on a dais with DA Rocah. The issue of Rivera bringing a gun to school on the day of the murder was never mentioned.

The entire pathetic episode was Raymond’s failed attempt to distance the school district from the murder, the second student v. student murder in four years.

In the supposed fentanyl-laced marijuana overdose episode, Raymond has done the exact opposite— actively and aggressively promoting a baseless fentanyl narrative with email blasts to parents, press statements, repeatedly inviting television crews into the high school, appearing on national and local television and sending a delegation of medical staff to a press conference with the Westchester County Executive.

Throughout, he has sanctimoniously intoned on the dangers of fentanyl, sung the praises of school nurses and extolled the virtues of Narcan (naloxone), suggesting every family should keep a bottle of anti-opioid spray in their medicine cabinet next to the toothpaste.

Why cast murder-victim Julian Oliveros overboard one day then embrace an overdose victim the next?

In 2022, Raymond wanted to disassociate the City School District of New Rochelle from the second student-on-student murder in four years.

In 2023, Raymond wanted to distract the New Rochelle school community from his abrupt mid-year resignation as Superintendent halfway through his three-year contract.

READ: New Rochelle Schools Superintendent Unexpectedly Resigns, Effective 6/30

Raymond informed the school board he was quitting on the same day he sent out an email blast to parents conflating a student’s personal medical distress with a highly toxic synthetic opioid to convey a false narrative: that the student overdosed on fentanyl.

The police investigation which determined the student did not overdose on opioids put to rest the repeated, specious insinuations by the Superintendent that a girl smoked fentanyl-laced marijuana at the high school.

The remaining question is — and it a big one — what did Raymond know and when did he know it, namely that there was never any fentanyl involved?

The girl and her family knew the night of Monday January 9 when she was discharged from the hospital, as did House Principal LaToya Thompson who accompanied the student from New Rochelle High School to Westchester Medical Center. Principal Dr. Dagberto Artiles knew at least by about 8:00 am Tuesday when he sent an email blast to faculty and staff at New Rochelle High School. The police knew at least by about 9:00 am on Tuesday January 10 when detectives interviewed the girl and her father.

• Did Raymond know by 4:55 pm on Monday January 9 when he sent his blast email about the use of Narcan (naloxone) and a supposed fentanyl overdose?
• Did Raymond know by 6:00 am on Tuesday January 10 when he went on national television on Fox and Friends?
• Did Raymond know before 8:00 pm on Tuesday January 10 when he honored the high school nurses for saving the students’ life at a meeting of the New Rochelle Board of Education?
• Raymond certainly knew when he sent out a second email blast about on the evening of Friday 13 saying he was not able to confirm there was fentanyl in the vape cartridge.

In Raymond’s telling of his fake fentanyl tale, around lunchtime on Monday January 9, a student took a hit off a vape pen, then several minutes later (or more) she made her way under her own power to the nurses office, then spoke with nurses for about 10 minutes, possibly more, then became sedated.

Only then did a a nurse administer Narcan (naloxone). The student revived and was taken by ambulance to the hospital where she was treated and recovered so that she was able to return to classes on Wednesday.

From the various pubic accounts and police records I have seen, it appears that the student was roused from sedation by a liquid sprayed deep into her nasal passages but, as there were no opioids in her system, the naloxone, an opioid antagonist contained in a bottle of Narcan, was not the cause of her “waking up”.

Deep Dive: A Primer on Fentanyl Overdoses and Related Toxicology – Introduction

The Narcan spray used at New Rochelle High School contains 0.4 mg/mL naloxone, 2 mg/mL of methylparaben and propylparaben as preservatives, and 8.6 mg/mL of sodium chloride (salt water).

The liquid sprayed into the student’s nostril was almost entirely sodium chloride nasal spray, a treatment for stuffy nose, post-nasal drip, dryness in nasal passages, or nasal irritation caused by colds, flu, allergies, or pollutants. Blasting salt water up a person’s nose is likely to cause a reaction, which appears to be the case with the girl.

Correlation does not mean causation

Claiming a person not experiencing an opioid overdose was revived because of naloxone contained in a bottle of Narcan sprayed up their nose is to say “we know she had a fentanyl overdose because when we sprayed Narcan up her nose she did not die of a fentanyl overdose”. This is a logical fallacy known as post hoc ergo propter hoc ("after this, therefore because of this"); an event that follows another is said to be the necessary consequence of the former event.

It is similar to observing a correlation between the monthly sale of ice cream and monthly number shark attacks in the United States. Does eating ice cream cause shark attacks? No. But each year, the two variables are highly correlated.

Does that mean the nurses did wrong by administering Narcan (naloxone)? No.

The National Institute of Health recommends that if a person has serious overdose symptoms but it is not certain the person has overdosed on an opioid they should be given Narcan (naloxone) right away anyway, since prolonged slow or shallow breathing may cause permanent damage to the brain or death.

The National Institute of Health says that signs of an opioid overdose include very small pupils, slow or shallow breathing, vomiting. an inability to speak, faint heartbeat, limp arms and legs. pale skin, purple lips and fingernails, unconsciousness.

None of these opioid overdose symptoms — based on statements by the nurses, school officials or first responders in public statements or public records — were present in the student that day.

Tellingly, there was no mention at all of the most observable symptoms such as pinpoint pupils, slow or shallow breathing, vomiting, pale skin, faint heartbeat, purple lips and fingernails.

The girl obviously did not have limp arms and legs because she walked to the nurses’ office under her own power.

The girl was not experiencing an inability to speak because she had an extended conversation with the nurses that went on for 10 minutes or more; she told nurses she consumed drugs, how she consumed drugs and described her condition to them.

The girl was definitely not unconscious after taking drugs because she walked and talked for 10 minutes or more after consuming the drug in the vape pen. The District has put out conflicting statements saying both she was and was not unconscious.

The police, on scene when the a school nurse administered Narcan, reported the girl “began to become unresponsive, leading to the nursing staff administering NarCan (sic)”.

This is noteworthy for two reasons: the gap of at least 7 minutes (and likely more) between the 911 call and administering Narcan to the student; saying a person has begun to become unresponsive is a long way of saying the person was not unresponsive and shows the girl was responsive when police officers, firefighters and paramedics arrived on scene.

The police say the girl becoming unresponsive led nurses to administer Narcan spray to the student who “then regained consciousness”. There is that post hoc ergo propter hoc again.

I spoke to many medical professionals since the incident on January 9th, including specialists, who all said the same thing: a person who overdoses on fentanyl will not be walking around the hallways at a high school, telling people what they were doing before feeling sick and describing their medical condition to people for 10 or 20 minutes. They are more likely to be out cold on the floor choking on their own vomit, dying, or dead.

So, if the girl did not have an opioid overdose what was wrong with her?

Despite numerous claims by school and county officials that the student took one hit off a marijuana vape cartridge that is not what she told police.

According to the NRPD incident report, on Tuesday January 10, “at approximately 0900 Hrs” investigators “spoke to (the girl) and parents in regards to yesterday's incident. (The girl) states is feeling better and was released from the hospital last night. (The girl) further states that yesterday (a person know to the girl) handed (the girl) a THC oil pen and (the girl) took two to three hits from it. (The girl) then began to feel dizzy and nauseous so (the girl’s) friend brought (the girl) to the nurses office. The girl does not know where the (vape pen/cartridge) is or where (a person know to the girl) purchased it from.

Discrepancies between the fake fentanyl narrative and the police narrative:

• marijuana (0.3 % to 20% THC) v THC Oil (80% THC)
• One hit v. two or three hits
• Dizzy/nauseous/sedated v. loss of consciousness/vomiting/pinpoint pupils
• One student v. two (possibly 3) students
• The girl knew who had the vape pen/cartridge v. school officials do not know what happened to the vape pen/cartridge.

A person who says they took up to three hits off a THC Oil pen which has THC levels many times stronger than marijuana most likely had a THC overdose where symptoms include dizziness, nausea and sedation — the symptoms described by school officials, the nurses and first responders.

Raymond has continued to spin his fentanyl tale long after New Rochelle Police Detectives determined there were no opioids (which includes fentanyl) in the student’s system; the police investigation was closed in less than 24 hours.

READ: No Opioids Found in Vaping Student Given Narcan at New Rochelle High School, Police Say

Since being first to report that fentanyl was not in the student’s system, I have been seeking incident reports and investigation narratives from the New Rochelle Police Department, New Rochelle Fire Department and Empress Ambulance, the private contractor which provides paramedic services and ambulance transport to the City of New Rochelle.

I am still seeking additional information but have enough to report a great deal from NRPD and NRFD records that flatly contradict the Superintendent’s fake fentanyl narrative: fentanyl was never mentioned by the nurses in their 911 call, nor did the 911 dispatcher mention fentanyl, nor did police responding to the scene or detectives following up on the incident the next day; the student told police she took THC Oil not opioids and her symptoms are entirely consistent with a THC overdose and not at all consistent with a fentanyl overdose or any kind of opioid overdose.

According to New Rochelle Police Department records the Date/Time of the 911 Phone Call Received was 12:21:35. The Call was Routed at 12:24:03. First Dispatch was 12:24:44. First Arrive (CIU Officers: 11555 (Unit 42) 10808 (Unit 10)) 12:27:26

According to New Rochelle Fire Department records, the Alarm Date and Time was 12:22:31 on Monday January 9, 2023. NRFD including paramedics Fire Department Station 3 (756 North Avenue near Eastchester Road) arrived on scene at 12:27:03.

About 6 minutes elapsed between the 911 call and the time Police, Firefighters and Paramedics were on scene in the nurses office.

The 911 Call Notes say at 12:24:03 police were routed to the nurse’s office.

IN NURSE OFFICE. CALLED IN BY THE NURSE OFFICE. SMOKED A MARIJUANA VAPE IS M—

NRPD officers advised HQ they resumed patrol at 12:53:13

At 14:56:22, an NRPD officer wrote the incident report:

At approximately 12:21 hrs, EMS, Sergeant Gonzalez and I responded to the New Rochelle High School Nurse's Office (265 Clove Road) in regards to an EMS sick; student possibly overdosed. Upon arrival, school RN — stated Comp/I — -me into her office stating smoked a "cartridge" and does not feel well. Comp —then began to become unresponsive, leading to the nursing staff administering NarCan. Comp/ then regained consciousness —. Upon my arrival, — Comp/ was then transported — was accompanied by the school House 1 Principal —. The nursing staff stated they were able to get in contact with the father — will meet Comp

Further Questions for First Responders:

I still have a lot of questions about the responses to my FOIL requests to the New Rochelle Police Department and the New Rochelle Fire Department as well as Empress Ambulance. I have followed up repeatedly.

At this point, I have almost everything I need from the New Rochelle Fire Department and Empress Ambulance. I am still seeking to establish when paramedics left New Rochelle High School and when they arrived at Weschester Medical Center.

I have a lot of information from the New Rochelle Police Department but there are still questions and what appears to over-redaction and imprecise redaction of NRPD records.

I sent the following email to leadership of the City of New Rochelle, New Rochelle Fire Department and New Rochelle Police Department.

Statement from Captain Coyne (1/11/23)

“We did send detectives and youth officers to investigate. The latest information we received was that there were no opioids in the student’s system, so thankfully it was not more serious. It seems that the student may have had a bad reaction and Narcan was administered as a precaution. As far as the vape cartridge investigation, it is ongoing. If I get new information that is contrary to this, I will let you know.

Thanks,

Captain J. Collins Coyne

Commander, Criminal Investigations Division

New Rochelle Police Department”

If there were no opioids, why would there be an ongoing vape cartridge investigation? It is apparent that the identity of the person with the vape cartridge was known to investigators at about 9 am on 1/10/23. Even if it was not, the vaping occurred in a hallway near the nurse’s office. Having served on the City School District of New Rochelle’s District-Wide Health and Safety Committee and the SAVE Team I know there are cameras recording the hallways and the CCTV system includes facial recognition software which makes it easy to track the movements and actions of any person on any day from the moment they enter the building until they leave (this capability has been used as part of termination proceedings for numerous employees). It would be a simple matter to view the vaping incident on video, note the time, then “follow” all involved parties. This could be done to both track the vape cartridge and the Comp and her friend. It is not clear from the records if the friend who escorted the Comp to the nurses’ office is the same person who provided the THC Oil pen to the Comp or if there is a third person involved. Given the claim/belief that the vape cartridge may have contained a highly toxic drug (fentanyl) the lack of urgency to find what would be a ticking time bomb is perplexing. Not your business but given the claim/belief that the vape cartridge may have contained fentanyl it is notable that the school was not immediately put on lockdown/lockout with all students told to hold in place until the vape pen cartridge was located; and that hazmat teams were not called to the scene as is a typical response when the presence of fentanyl is suspected at a location.

I see no records pertaining to youth officers that I know (Fudge, Andolina). Are there others?

Captain Coyne said detectives; who are those in these records? Stephen M. Correale. Rank? Detective? CIU? Emmanuel Gonzalez Rank? Detective? CIU? Deivy Martinez Rank? Detective? CIU? Who exactly went to NRHS on 1/9/23? Who exactly spoke to father on EMS SICK follow up on 1/10/23?

“At approximately 1221 hrs, EMS, Sergeant Gonzalez and I responded” Who is the “I” in that sentence? Who is author of 1/9/23 notes?

Same for notes on 1/10/23: Who is author of 1/10/23 notes?

Notes say 1/10/22 - typo. Will it be fixed?

There is a redaction “Upon arrival, school RN — stated Comp/I — -me into her office stating smoked a "cartridge" Is “-me” the word “came”? Other?

There are instances where Comp/I — is redacted and may be Comp. For good order’s sake can you clarify the variations on Comp? Is it the same over and over and which variation?

In the notes for the 911 call it reads “SMOKED A MARIJUANA VAPE IS M—“

What is “M—“ and why redacted? What is the “M” word?

The 1/11/23 statement from Captain Coyne reads “The latest information we received was that there were no opioids in the student’s system”. The latest information in the records I received is in the conversation with the “Comp” and her father at about 9 am on 1/10/23. Given this why do the 1/10/23 notes not indicate anything about receiving information to the effect that there were no opioids in the student’s system, there is not even a redacted section that might speak to this information. I see nothing at all in the records I received that references opioids at all. Why is that?

There are numerous references to the medical condition of the girl but her name is redacted. I understand perfectly why the name of the girl is redacted (and the name of the father) but obviously you all believe that it is not a HIPAA violation to provide personal medical information when the name of the patient is redacted. So why is HIPAA cited as a reason I cannot get information on when the ambulance left NRHS and when it arrived at WMC?

I do not understand why the names of school district employees are redacted: the nurses, the House 1 Principal, etc.

The name of the House 1 Principal is LaToya Thompson as is indicated on the NRHS website. You have effectively identified her by title but with the fig leaf of redacting her name.

The nurses (and an assistant nurse and the medical director) were part of a press conference with Westchester County Executive George Latimer. Dr. Balchan gave a speech from the podium to the assembled reporters. They all received plaques with their names on them. Their names were read aloud by CE Latimer. Medical Director Dr. Brooke Balchan and the three nurses received plaques from Westchester County: Diane Vetrano, Wendy Miceli, Lisa Grillo, and one assistant Calara Cavaho (?).

Photos and video were circulated by the CE’s office.

The press event was covered by Talk of the Sound, WCBS-TV, WABC-TV, News12 and others and reported on by Journal News, Patch and others.

Given all of this, I fail to see any valid reason to redact names of ANY school district employees.

I look forward to your response to my questions, especially your taking another go at the NRPD incident reports — why are there no records for the youth officers, why are there so many unnecessary or incomplete redactions, etc.?

END

Responses to date:

I received a reply from NRFD Chief Sandor on Saturday January 28:

Email FOIL request to Empress Chief Sean O’Brien —- to get ambulance times

I received a reply from NRPD Captain Coyne on Monday January 30:

I forwarded your email to PC Gazzola to see how in depth he wants me to answer.

I’ll let you know when I hear back.

Thanks,

Captain J. Collins Coyne

Commander, Criminal Investigations Division

New Rochelle Police Department

I received a reply from Empress Chief O’Brien on Tuesday February 7:

I sent your FOIL request to our corporate compliance officer, as per compliance I can't release any relevant information pertaining to what we responded for or what the job was. If you only need time stamps, I will give him a call and see if that can be authorized.

I want some of this information to put together a detailed timeline. I have some time stamp data from public records. Other information is available from the nurse’s run sheet, the paramedics run sheets, and a review of tape from CCTV cameras which exist but are not available to me under FOIL.

Preliminary Incident Timeline January 9, 2023

Girl takes 1st Hit from THC Oil Pen: TBD

Girl takes 2nd Hit from THC Oil Pen: TBD

Girl takes 3rd Hit from THC Oil Pen: TBD

Girl (and friend) leave hallway for nurses office: TBD

Girl (and friend) arrive at nurses office: TBD

(Girl talks with nursing staff for # minutes)

Nurse calls 911: 12:21:35

(Girl talks with nursing staff for # minutes)

NRFD Arrives: 12:27:03

NRPD Arrives: 12:27:26

(NRPD on scene for # minutes before nurse administers Narcan (nalaxone))

Empress Ambulance leaves New Rochelle High School with girl and House 1 Principal LaToya Thompson: TBD

Empress Ambulance arrives at Westchester Medical Center: TBD

Girl released from Westchester Medical Center: “later that night”

Overall, the incident began about 12:09 pm with the first hit off the vape pen and ended with the student delivered to Westchester Medical Center at about 1:02 pm.

A nurse called 911 at 12:21:35. Before that call was made the girl spoke with the nursing staff for several minutes (so not unresponsive) and before that walked to the nurses office and before that was in the hallway taking two or three hits off a THC Oil pen. As a guesstimate, I will call it 4 minutes in the hallway vaping from first hit to second or third hit until feeling sick: 3 minutes walking to the nurses office; 5 minutes talking to the nurses before 911 was called; 6 minutes for emergency response by NRFD and NRPD; 2 minutes until nurse administers Narcan. That is about 20 minutes from first hit to Narcan blast. That is not even remotely a timeline of a person who ingested fentanyl but does match up with a THC overdose.

Then there is the guesstimate from paramedics arriving on scene at 12:27:03 to leaving New Rochelle High School. I will call that ten minutes, then transporting the girl to Westchester Medical Center. I will call that 25 minutes. A total of 35 minutes

Patient Privacy:

As of 2021, New Rochelle High School reported to the New York State Education Department the student population was 3,320 students. That includes by gender 1,561 Female students and 1,759 Male students and by race/ethnicity that includes 717 Black students, 1,668 Hispanic students, 763 White students and 172 students in other classifications.

The girl’s father was at the New Rochelle Board of Education meeting on January 10, 2023. He appeared to be Black/African-American.

The four New Rochelle High School “houses” each consist of about 25% of the total population (excluding about 75 students at the campus school/Huguenot Academy).

If the student is Black, Female, House 1, at NRHS that breaks down as (3,320 - 75 ) x 25% (House 1) x 22% (Black) x 47% (Female) or 3,245 x .25 x .22 x .47 = 84 students (2.5%)

The identity of the student has been narrowed by 97.5%. Given that there were 1 or 2 other students involved and, in the age of SnapChat, TikTok and Instagram, it is reasonable to believe the identity of the student was widely known at New Rochelle High School by the time the girl arrived at Westchester Medical Center.

The world may not know the student’s name but rest-assured every one of her classmates who cares to know now knows who she is.

Jennifer Peck, Raymond’s wife went so far as to criticize my reporting on Facebook, saying it did not matter that police had determined there was no fentanyl. “I don’t care whether there was fentanyl in the device in the end or not”, she said, contending that the greater good has been served because “parents need information and guidance and the district is providing that.”

The student and her family might feel differently about Superintendent Raymond using her private medical history as a jumping off point for him rolling out an entirely false fentanyl narrative.

By the end of the week, Raymond claimed the vape pen had not been recovered (no effort was made to do so) so the district was unable to confirm if the vape pen cartridge contained fentanyl (family and police knew there was no fentanyl within 24 hours) and that he could not provide information on fentanyl in the student’s system out of concern for the student’s privacy (despite his broadcasting that information from coast to coast all week).

The school community might feel differently too, wondering why the Superintendent brought further disrepute to the District’s already bruised reputation by proactively promoting a story very few people were aware of until he promoted the story. Why did he portray New Rochelle schools in such a negative light based on a fabrication? Keep in mind, his version of events is that students were smoking marijuana in a hallway at New Rochelle High School in the middle of the school day, one of them had a fentanyl overdose, that student was given Narcan and revived by school nurses then rushed to the ER in an ambulance.

Since when does New Rochelle want to be known as the place with the best schools in Westchester for kids to have a fentanyl overdose?

As by far the top consumer of news and information disseminated by the City School District of New Rochelle for the past 15 years, I cannot recall another instance where the Superintendent informed the school community and media about a student in medical distress. To my recollection, Superintendent’s make such broadcast announcements only when there is a lockdown/lockout or hold in place.

I continue to report out this story, primarily by following up on my FOIL requests. I will update this story as I get the last few details from my FOIL requests.

Check back in a week or so.