Students in Loudoun County, Virginia, will now be able to carry naloxone in their backpacks, as part of an update to the school district’s student medication policy approved this week.
The change will allow students who have received training, and whose parents have signed off, to carry the overdose-reversal drug at school.
The policy updates come about a year after the school system reported a series of overdoses, including at least eight at one county high school. That prompted Gov. Glenn Youngkin to sign an executive order requiring school divisions to promptly notify families of a student overdose.
“This is completely optional,” school board member Anne Donohue said. “This, in no way, is obligating any student at LCPS to carry naloxone. It is simply saying, if they want to, they will be allowed to.”
According to the approved policy, a student who administers the naloxone has to tell a staff member.
Any student who wants to carry naloxone in their backpack will have to get it themselves.
While some school board members said the change will improve student safety, others suggested it puts too much pressure on students.
“We are asking students to become emergency responders, and I feel like it’s putting a heavy responsibility on the students,” board member Deana Griffiths said. “You may also lose actual confirmed reporting by students if they are administering naloxone.”
Board member Lauren Shernoff echoed that sentiment, suggesting the school division is “putting what I feel to be a very adult thing on our children, if they take that responsibility.”
But, board member April Chandler said, “If you’re faced with an overdose of your classmate, it’s traumatic either way. Are you empowered to do something that could save a life? Or are you going to be traumatized by the fact that you saw somebody pass away? It’s impossible to consider.”
Arlington Public Schools took a similar step in 2023. Last year, 450 students signed up to do it, a spokesman said.
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