Overdose Reversal Drugs

Schools and districts that elect to maintain a supply of overdose reversal drugs for use in emergency situations must have a policy.  

School and District Policy 

Ohio law states that a school or district policy must specify the amount of the drug's supply to be kept at each school, ensure the overdose reversal drug is stored in a secure location that is easily accessible to school employees or contractors, and describe any training that school employees or contractors may need to complete. Maintenance and use of overdose reversal drugs must comply with Ohio law. 

The Department of Education and Workforce, in consultation with the Department of Health, developed a model policy on overdose reversal drugs that schools and district may use to meet legislative requirements. 

Notifications and Reporting 

After an emergency situation where a student was given an opioid reversal drug, superintendents (or equivalent officials) are required by Ohio law to report the use of opioid reversal drugs to their district board of education (or equivalent governing body) and the student’s parent or guardian. If there is a persistent pattern of overdoses, they must notify the parent or guardian of each student in the school or district. 

Each school and district must report the use of overdose reversal drugs to the Department of Education and Workforce annually.  

• City, local, exempted village, or joint vocational school districts, STEM schools, and community schools report in the Department’s Education Management Information System (EMIS).  For more information on how to report in the system, contact the EMIS Coordinator or see section 5.3 of the EMIS manual.
• Chartered nonpublic schools report in the medical section of the Non-Public Schools Data System (NPDS). See Instructions for Reporting in NPDS for further information.
• Nonchartered nonpublic schools report in the Medical Reporting Form. The Department will email the form before May 1 each year. If the email is not received, the school should contact prevention@education.ohio.gov.  

Donations 

Schools and districts may accept monetary donations to buy overdose reversal drugs. If accepted, the school or district must track the expenditure of the donated funds. 

Resources 

• The Ohio Department of Health provides the Responding to Opioid Overdoses with Naloxone: A Toolkit for Ohio Schools. 
• The Ohio Pharmacy Board provides information about the Distribution of Overdose Reversal Drugs in Ohio.  
• Project DAWN is a network of opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution programs coordinated by the Ohio Department of Health. Use the list of Project Dawn locations to find a Project DAWN site.   
• The NaloxoneOhio website provides a list of free naloxone mail order programs.  
• The Department’s Opioid Abuse Prevention webpage outlines the health education requirements surrounding opioid abuse prevention and provides resources for educators. 

Last Modified: 4/1/2026 2:35:45 PM

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