For Immediate Release: November 10, 2015

Contact: Renee Rybak Lang, renee.lang@nasbe.org, 703-740-4841

Addiction Trends Prompt State Policymakers to Address School Medication Policies

Alexandria, VA –The prevalence of opioid addiction and overdose risks is prompting states to review school medication administration policies and procedures, according to a new NASBE Policy Update. Rhode Island, Kentucky, New York, Illinois, Delaware, and Massachusetts have recently passed laws that address complex medication administration and help ensure educators are better prepared to handle school health emergencies. As new and potentially controversial school health emergencies emerge, state boards of education will need to nimbly amend and expand school emergency medication policies.

Addiction Trends Require States to Change School Medication Policies offers several suggestions for how state boards of education can update policies around medication administration. Strong policies will keep students’ welfare at the center and should be updated with the “feedback and help of health departments, pediatricians, school nurses, and other health experts who have been monitoring and managing the health trends that are impinging on schools. These partners will have essential information to inform boards’ strategies,” writes NASBE health consultant Erima Fobbs, author of the update. She notes new laws in Illinois, Kentucky, Rhode Island, and New York encourage this collaboration to inform changes in policy and guidance.

Read Addiction Trends Require States to Change School Medication Policies. NASBE recently hosted a webinar with the National Association of School Nurses previewing results from their 2015 Medication in Schools Survey. An on-demand recording of that webinar is available here.

The National Association of State Boards of Education represents America’s state and territorial boards of education. Our principal objectives are to strengthen state leadership in education policymaking, advocate equality of access to educational opportunity, promote excellence in the education of all students, and ensure responsible lay governance of education. Learn more at www.nasbe.org.

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