Nine students at Park View High School in Loudoun County, Virginia have overdosed on opioids since September, eight of which have occurred within the past three weeks, according to multiple reports.
On Tuesday, a ninth student overdosed on fentanyl, the Loudon County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to Fox 5. This incident reportedly occurred outside the school.
Reportedly, four of the overdoses occurred inside the school. Three of them required the use of Narcan and staff needed to administer CPR on two occasions. The five other reported overdoses happened off-campus, but officers confirmed they were students at Park View.
"We are putting all available resources into identifying who is responsible for distributing these lethal drugs," Sheriff Mike Chapman said in a statement. "We have also encouraged LCPS to continue its communications with the Park View community and have offered our assistance with additional educational and security measures."
LCPS Superintendent Dr. Aarom Spence called the situation a “crisis” and emphasized that the school is working to train stuff to supply schools with Narcan.
"We began to address fentanyl awareness last spring, with a series of six community information sessions and will continue this effort division-wide," Spence added.
According to WTOP News, the overdoses can be connected to fentanyl. None of the overdoses were fatal.
“We’re trying to find the source of these drugs,” Thomas Julia, the communications director for the sheriff's office, told NBC News. “We want to protect the kids that are in the school. We want to make sure they are more aware of the dangers of fentanyl, which can be lethal in a single dose.”
Last year, Townhall covered how the The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) announced that it would make Narcan available at all its campuses by mid-October in response to fentanyl overdoses by students.
"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," LAUSD board President Kelly Gonez said in a statement. "Our board and superintendent are committed to doing everything we can to ensure student safety on our campuses and in our communities."