When a 13-year-old Connecticut student died earlier last month after a fentanyl overdose at his school, it renewed discussions around the availability of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone in education settings.

Pennsylvania is one of 20 states with a law allowing schools to supply naloxone, also known by its brand name of Narcan, to staff in case of an overdose in a school building. While the commonwealth has no requirement that schools supply naloxone, many local districts do, and they say it is an important life saving tool.

“Anything we can do to help any person that may be in trouble, we should be prepared to do,” said Raymond Kinder Jr., Superintendent of Tamaqua Area School District.

In a 2018 survey of Pennsylvania school nurses, over 50 percent of the 362 nurses who responded said their school supplied naloxone. Of those who said their schools had it, 5 percent said it has been used.

The commonwealth has a standing order where any person can obtain naloxone without a prescription, but schools are not included. They must receive an order from a school physician.

Between 2016-2018, the Pennsylvania Department of Education had a program where each public high school in the commonwealth could receive two doses of naloxone. The program was funded by a grant and was not renewed. 1,200 doses of naloxone were distributed to districts across the commonwealth, according to the Overdose Reduction Technical Assistance Center at the University of Pittsburgh.

Grants available

Today, schools are eligible for grants through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to purchase new supplies.

Kiandra Foster, who helps oversee the Overdose Reduction Technical Assistance Center, said naloxone should be part of a comprehensive strategy for schools to help prevent overdoses among students and young adults.

“It’s really important that schools work with counselors, teachers to have active conversations about substance use and ensure we are providing preventive supports and care of children in K-12 schools as well as kids who are in older age groupings,” Foster said.

Naloxone is currently stored at buildings in every local school district except Jim Thorpe, which recently adopted rules and plans to supply it once staff is trained.

Most local districts have adopted a policy created in 2016 by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association which outlines guidelines for supplying and using naloxone.

Those districts include Panther Valley, Pleasant Valley, Jim Thorpe and Northern Lehigh. The policies allow school nurses and trained staff the option to use naloxone if someone is experiencing an opioid overdose.

Staff trained

The policy says that staff must be trained in using naloxone, and recognizing the signs of an opioid overdose. If naloxone is administered, administrators are required to contact the police, and a parent if the recipient is a student.

If the person who gives the naloxone follows those rules, the policies say that they can’t be sued by the school district.

While Jim Thorpe does not currently have naloxone, it plans to store it in all school buildings once staff are trained in its use.

Superintendent John Rushefski said schools should have naloxone on hand because it could provide lifesaving treatment in an emergency.

“We’re always mindful of drugs and the potential for an overdose. It’s something we don’t have experience with, and hopefully we never experience it,” he said.

Pleasant Valley has had its naloxone policy in place since 2019. School District Police Chief Lynn Courtright said it is available in all school buildings, and all school police and nurses are trained to use it. She would not say if it had ever been administered.

Northern Lehigh School District stores naloxone in each of its buildings, including the field house. Each nurse and school police officer is trained and supplied with naloxone. An additional dose is also located with the Automatic External Defibrillator in the main office of each building, according to Frank Gnas, Safety & Security Coordinator/School Police Officer.

“The nurses in each building have a dose in their office,” Gnas said. “Our police cruisers are also equipped with Narcan.”

Gnas said the district has never had to use naloxone on its premises to date.

“The district does have the nurses trained in using it,” he said. “Our police department is trained in using it, and several staff members are trained in using it through their own first responder training.”

The Weatherly Area School District also has naloxone available for emergency use and trained nurses and staff to administer it.

Policies in place

Panther Valley has had a naloxone policy since 2016. Superintendent David McAndrew Jr. did not return calls for comment for this story.

Lehighton and Palmerton area school districts both have identical policies in place for the use of naloxone in its schools.

According to their policies, both adopted in 2016, school nurses and other authorized individuals in the district receive standard training developed and administered by a medical rescue team prior to being allowed to carry and use naloxone.

When a school nurse suspects that a student is suffering from an opiate overdose, the nurse or other authorized individual can administer 2 milligrams of naloxone to the patient by way of the nasal passages.

The school nurse is required to submit a naloxone administration form, which is to be submitted to the principal of the school where the overdose occurred.

School nurses are responsible for inspecting naloxone kits each month in order to ensure that the kits are intact.

Tamaqua has its own policy which states that naloxone will be stored at the middle and high school levels. Nurses are responsible for obtaining the supply and replacing it when it expires. There are also administrators trained to use it.

Kinder said the district keeps naloxone on hand to be prepared if an overdose were to occur. He would not say if staff had ever administered the drug at the school.

“Just like anything medical, it shouldn’t be something we have sitting on every table, but we have it in the school. If the incidents occur, we’d rather be prepared than not prepared,” Kinder said.

Times News staffers Jarrad Hedes, Kristine Porter and Terry Ahner contributed to this report.