Loudoun County Public Schools is considering letting students carry naloxone, the opioid overdose-reversing drug, at school.
The idea is part of the Northern Virginia school district’s proposed changes to its student medication policy. The policy was discussed at a Student Services Committee meeting last week.
The Loudoun Times-Mirror was the first to report the possible change to the policy.
The proposal comes months after Loudoun County was in the spotlight over how it communicated overdoses that happen on school property to families. That prompted Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin to sign an executive order requiring schools to promptly notify families of an overdose.
“We would like for the students to be trained and certified,” said Jeannie Kloman, supervisor of Student Health Services. “They should be trained and certified and keep the medication in its original container and not alter the device in any way, and we ask that they immediately notify a staff member if they administer this drug while on school grounds.”
The policy would only apply to students who are 16 and older. They would be allowed to keep naloxone, commonly referred to by its brand name Narcan, in their backpacks. Students who are trained and certified would be able to administer it in an emergency and would have to obtain it themselves.
School board member Deana Griffiths expressed skepticism at the idea of allowing students to carry naloxone, suggesting it may encourage drug use.
“While I understand why we want students to carry it, I also feel like it could be a license for them to say, ‘Hey, I can take drugs and then I’ll have the stuff on me,’” Griffiths said. “This is very serious, so I would like to see more data on who’s training, who’s carrying it, and data in a year or so. Was it helpful for students to carry it?”
Arlington Public Schools revised its policy to allow students to carry naloxone in 2023. Last school year, 450 students signed up to do it, a county spokesman said.
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