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Placentia launches FAIR fentanyl-awareness partnership with school district
Summary
City Administrator Damian Arula and the Placentia Police Department introduced the FAIR (Fentanyl Awareness, Information, and Reduction) initiative with the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District to educate students, staff and families about fentanyl risks, provide overdose-recognition training and host community meetings.
City Administrator Damian Arula and the Placentia Police Department on April 1 outlined a new partnership with the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District called the FAIR (Fentanyl Awareness, Information and Reduction) initiative that staff said will deliver presentations in schools and community meetings and train teachers, administrators and nurses to recognize and respond to overdoses.
"My name is Damian Arula, and I'm the city administrator for the city of Placentia," Arula said, introducing the program and saying the city, the school district and police would "conduct presentations at all Placentia … schools, hosting community meetings and equipping teachers, administrative staff, and nursing staff with the information they need to recognize the signs of an overdose and provide them with the resources to assist."
Sergeant Beau Wagner of the Placentia Police Department described the immediate public-health rationale, citing national and state data: "According to the CDC, over 150 people die every day from overdoses related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl," and he noted that California recorded 151 teen fentanyl deaths in 2022. Wagner said the FAIR initiative is a "multifaceted approach" meant to empower young people and families with prevention information.
Staff said the program will include in-school presentations, community meetings and training for staff to identify overdose signs and use available resources. The presentation framed FAIR as a prevention and safety effort rather than an enforcement program; the city asked residents to watch forthcoming schedules for presentation dates and community workshops.
Next steps: staff and district partners will schedule school and community presentations and return to council with outreach timelines and any resource needs.
