KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City, Kansas, Public School District’s Board of Education is expected to consider an item Tuesday night regarding a partnership between the Unified Government Public Health Department and KCKPS to integrate Narcan, an antidote for opioid overdoses, into schools.
UGPHD created a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Aug. 1 explaining the background and purpose of the partnership, its mutual benefit and interest, what resources it will provide and its responsibilities.
The MOU states that UGPHD will provide Narcan kits for each school and training for faculty and staff, as well as follow-up training to parents as requested.
Every school in the district will be required to share data with UGPHD about when Narcan is used, permit school police officers and safety associates to carry a dose of Narcan when on duty, and update UGPHD for more kits when needed, along with other requirements stated by the MOU.
The item on the board’s agenda Tuesday night says the partnership is important to provide life-saving medication in the event of a drug overdose, to prevent injury and or death.
Since 2020, over one quarter of the opioid overdoses that occurred affected people under 21 years old, according to the MOU. 12% of those overdoses resulted in death and Narcan was not used in over half of those instances.
KCKPD seized 6,000 fentanyl-laced pills back in June and issued a warning about the dangers of fentanyl.
The board’s review Tuesday would only potentially accept the information as a vote to approve the partnership would come in the future.
