TOPEKA — Parents, first responders and educators are urging lawmakers to require schools to stock naloxone and provide fentanyl prevention education to prevent overdoses and deaths.
House Bill 2489 would combine education and resources with the goal of preventing youth fentanyl-related deaths. Schools would be required to maintain a stock supply of naloxone, as well as being responsible for storage, adequate quantity and administering as needed.
The bill would allow school personnel to administer naloxone on a “voluntary basis” outside of the scope of employment.
Josh Magaha, a Kansas City firefighter, said he has given 15,000 children and adults overdose prevention education across eastern Kansas since 2018. Magaha’s first presentation was in Basehor. Five days later, someone overdosed on the school’s campus.
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“Every single school I’ve presented in has had an overdose. Every single school I’ve presented in has Narcan now,” Magaha said. “I see it first hand. The fact that the deaths are going down is being blanketed because we have so much Narcan in the community.”
Narcan is a brand name for naloxone as a nasal spray.
Click here for a map of where to access Narcan for free in Lawrence.
Education on fentanyl abuse prevention would be for grades 9-12 and can be provided alongside other drug prevention programs. The State Board of Education would be responsible for creating guidance to ensure the curriculum is age appropriate.
Tim Graham, of the Kansas National Education Association, said he worried the language in the bill regarding staff and personnel was broad, and should be changed since those handling the naloxone would be nonmedical professionals.
“The bill requires nonmedical employees and volunteers who’d be asked to administer naloxone outside of their employment,” Graham said. “This raises practical concerns about expectations placed on staff who are not trained as medical professionals.”
Between 2020 and 2023, 48 children died because of fentanyl, according to the Kansas State Child Death Review Board, with 74% of child drug-related deaths caused by fentanyl.
Rep. Pat Proctor, a Leavenworth Republican, testified in favor of the bill, saying roughly 30 to 50 people overdose per year in Leavenworth. Proctor, who has served in the House since 2021, said roughly a dozen of those are overdose deaths.
“I didn’t understand the scope of this problem when I came here. This is happening to our kids and in our schools, too,” Proctor said. “The problem isn’t getting worse, but it ain’t getting better.”
Amber Saale-Burger testified to the committee about losing her daughter and grandson’s father to pills laced with fentanyl. She said the concept of stocking naloxone is the same as automated external defibrillators or fire extinguishers in schools.
“Naloxone needs to be as readily available as possible,” she said. “We keep fire extinguishers in the house not because we plan to start a fire, but because if it happens we can put it out. Naloxone should be treated no different.”
Saale-Burger said prevention education can save lives and break the cycle for drug-endangered children.
“The only way to make this problem go away is to talk to our kids about it,” Saale said. “Kids don’t know until it’s too late.”
Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com. Follow Kansas Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
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