Board of Education approves school-connected overdose notification guidelines after removing disputed Loudoun-specific language

The Virginia Board of Education approved model guidance on school-connected overdose policy, response and parental notification after members voted 4–2 to delete four disputed sentences that referenced a Loudoun County incident.

The vote followed extended discussion about whether the guidance should single out a local division for facts that some officials say are in dispute. The board approved the final guidance on a motion to waive first review and adopt the item with the contested language removed.

Board member Miss Holton said the department had “done a terrific job bringing folks together,” but urged deleting three sentences in the guidance introduction that named Loudoun County and described the number, timing and location of related overdoses. “It’s highly inappropriate to include this kind of specific language in guidelines,” she said, arguing the sentences added nothing to the guidance’s purpose.

Board member Mister Hansen opposed removing the sentences. “I think it actually is helpful to us to identify illustrations of the problem that we are trying to address with these overdose guidelines,” he said, citing law-enforcement accounts and public comments that described delayed, broader community notification.

Doctor Armstrong, speaking for the superintendent, recommended the guidelines and said the document does not rely on a single definitive count; instead, the draft focuses on the need for prompt, clear notification to parents when overdoses occur in school settings. “Regardless of whether the number is 9 or 11, there were a shocking number of school-related overdoses in Loudoun County last year, and parents must be notified when these occur in or around their schools,” Doctor Armstrong said.

The board’s debate echoed public testimony earlier in the meeting. Farrah Phanth, a 19-year-old who said she struggled with fentanyl addiction in high school, urged the board to support a legislative proposal (HB//SB 20274 as referenced in public comment) requiring parental notification and staff training to respond to in-school overdoses. “Parents need to know what’s going on. Teachers need to know how to administer Narcan,” Phanth said during the public-comment period.

Board members also questioned whether the Loudoun superintendent’s letter disputing some facts about the incident should have been placed in the public comment folder prior to the vote; the letter was referenced in the discussion but not made part of the meeting packet on the dais. Ultimately, the substitute motion to remove the four disputed sentences passed 4–2 (Northern, Kilgore, McPherson and Holton voting yes; Hansen and Chair Creasey voting no).

The approved guidelines direct school divisions to adopt policies that balance student privacy with safety, provide model language for timely notification to parents and recommend staff training, including on naloxone use. The board accepted the item on final review, and the department will publish the model guidance for divisions to adopt or adapt.

Board members and department staff said they plan further outreach and training for divisions as they implement the guidance, and they noted the guidance is intended to supplement — not replace — local protocols and state executive actions that address overdose response.

Votes and next steps: the board approved the guidance with the Loudoun-specific sentences removed; the department will publish the model guidance and provide implementation supports to school divisions.