After 9 Students Overdose in Just a Few Weeks, LA School District Scrambles to Keep Kids from Dying
The second-largest school district in the country is stocking its schools with naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal drug, following a string of student deaths.
In recent weeks, nine students have died from overdoses in the Los Angeles Unified School District, with one student overdosing in the bathroom after obtaining fentanyl from a peer, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Every school in the district, including elementary schools, will now be stocked with the nasal spray version of naloxone, or Narcan, according to a Thursday news release.
“We have an urgent crisis on our hands,” Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said in the release.
“Research shows that the availability of naloxone along with overdose education is effective at decreasing overdoses and death — and will save lives. We will do everything in our power to ensure that not another student in our community is a victim to the growing opioid epidemic.”
High schools will receive the doses of naloxone over the next two weeks.
The district is also creating a safety task force to push peer-to-peer counseling and provide training and educational materials for families.
We have an urgent crisis on our hands. Research shows that the availability of naloxone and overdose education is effective at decreasing overdoses and death–and will save lives…Keeping students safe and healthy remains our highest priority. pic.twitter.com/fNxkXJXTFa
— Alberto M. Carvalho (@LAUSDSup) September 23, 2022
Hays Consolidated Independent School District in Kyle, Texas, lost three kids to overdoses this summer and in response stocked its nurses’ offices with Narcan.
“The opioid epidemic is a community crisis, and today Los Angeles Unified is taking concrete action to protect our students — both by making naloxone readily available and through proactive education and support,” Los Angeles Unified School Board president Kelly Gonez said in the release.
“Our Board and Superintendent are committed to doing everything we can to ensure student safety on our campuses and in our communities.”
The Los Angeles Unified School District did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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