School district will have NARCAN available

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NARCAN will soon be available in the West Liberty Community School District.

The West Liberty Board of Education held the first reading of school board policies 905.3 – 905.3R1 at its meeting Monday, March 6, which pertains to school districts having NARCAN on site.

School district nurses Kayla Morrision and Kelsey Hochstetler attended the meeting to answer any questions the board of education had.

Board president Jake Burroughs asked Morrision and Hochstetler if NARCAN would be in all of the district’s buildings.

“Yes,” Morrison said. “There will be one dose in each building stored in the AED cabinet.”

“Are we seeing a need to carry this?” Board of education member Carla Shield asked Morrison.

NARCAN is available for free through the Iowa Department of Public Health, Morrison replied.

“We haven’t needed it at school as of yet,” Morrison added. “It’s more of a harm reduction in case it happens.”

Shield asked Morrison if the district was going to get the nasal spray doses of NARCAN. Morrison said yes.

Board of education member Rebecca Vargas asked if the board policies they were looking at were from the Iowa Association of School Board’s. Superintendent Shaun Kruger replied yes.

Burroughs said he thought having NARCAN was a good idea.

“The police force just started carrying this not too long ago,” Burroughs added. “I think it’s good to have around just in case. You never know (when it will be needed.) It’s not only for the students but for anybody – parents or just for anybody that needs medical attention.”

Board of education member Ed Moreno asked Morrison and Hochstetler if they had received training on how to administer NARCAN.

“Anyone can technically do it if they feel confident doing so just like the AED,” Morrison said. “There is a 30-minute video that we would have us nurses and then probably our office staff and administrators watch just to know the signs and symptoms of an opioid overdose as well as maybe getting some printouts from public health or the company itself what to watch for to keep visible if needed.”

Vargas asked Morrison if there would be signs posted about where the NARCAN would be in case it’s needed for someone who has overdosed on opioids. Morrison said she thought they could get stickers to put on the side of the AED’s letting people know NARCAN is stored there.

“Just based on the information that I’ve read over, Kayla you can add to this or Katie, it sounds pretty fool proof,” Kruger said. “You can’t really harm somebody if they were falsely identified. You can use the nasal spray but it would not hurt them, it could only help them. Is that correct?”

Both Morrison and Hochstetler replied correct to Kruger’s question.

Two more readings of board policies 905.3 – 905.3R1 will be done before and training will be held before NARCAN is available in the school district’s buildings.

Other items covered at the board of education meeting were:

• a presentation from West Liberty High School Principal Brenda Arthur-Miller and High School Counselor Andrea Schultice on the college credit courses high school students can take;

• approved the 28E agreement with the Mid-Prairie Community School District for the home schooling program. Mid-Prairie oversees students who are home schooled in the West Liberty Community School District but with the 28E this allows the students to participate in activities in their home district;

• approved purchasing a 12 passenger van from Ron Alpen Ford for $48,750;

• approved an operational sharing agreement with the Wilton Community School District for a college and career readiness counselor.

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