One high school in Loudoun County, Virginia, has reported nine opioid-related overdoses this year — eight of which occurred in the last three weeks.
The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office initially reported Tuesday that eight students at Park View High school in Sterling overdosed, and four of those overdoses happened inside the school.
A ninth student overdosed off campus Tuesday night, the sheriff's office said. The student survived after receiving CPR. It was not immediately clear if Narcan was used.
Three students who overdosed at the school were given the anti-overdose drug Narcan, and school staff also did CPR on two of those students.
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The sheriff's office said the overdoses appeared to involve fentanyl, commonly found in the form of a counterfeit 30 milligram oxycodone pill that is blue, circular and may be stamped with an “M.”
“They don’t have to give and disclose the information about the specific name of the student, the grade or any identifying information. But parents need to know that there is a fentanyl problem here at Park View,” school board candidate Amy Riccardi said.
... parents need to know that there is a fentanyl problem here at Park View.
Amy Riccardi
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia news, events and updates
Riccardi is running for the Sterling district seat on the Loudoun County School Board.
She said she was at Park View High School for one of the superintendent’s listening sessions on Oct. 12, the day one of the overdoses took place.
“A student had to have Narcan and an AED used to revive them. That happened during the day. And that night, [the superintendent] was here for a listening session and said nothing about it,” Riccardi said.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said it has assigned additional resources to the high school in order to identify the source and distribution of the drugs.
The agency’s statistics show there have been 19 juvenile opioid overdoses reported in Loudoun County so far this year. There were 19 in all of 2022.
In a statement, the superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools said high schools are being supplied with the anti-overdose drug naloxone. They are also training staff on how to use it.
News4 reached out to the school system for comment on when exactly each overdose occurred and when parents were notified. We have not yet heard back.
