‘Once in a generation opportunity’: Narcan to be distributed to every public school in Georgia
By Graham Cawthon, Kirsten Maselka
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ATLANTA (WJCL) — Georgia will equip every public school in the state with opioid overdose reversal kits under a new initiative announced Thursday by the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities and the Georgia Department of Education.
Funded with opioid settlement dollars administered by the Georgia Opioid Crisis Abatement Trust, the Georgia Overdose Response Partnership will supply more than 2,300 public schools with naloxone (Narcan), personal protective equipment and information to request refills.
“The opioid settlement funds give us a once-in-a-generation opportunity to turn tragedy into prevention,” DBHDD Commissioner Kevin Tanner said in a statement. “Putting overdose reversal kits in every Georgia school is a practical, compassionate use of those dollars.”
The initiative supports Senate Bill 395, known as Wesley’s Law, sponsored by Sen. Clint Dixon. The law authorizes schools to obtain and administer opioid antagonists and grants immunity to staff who act in good faith during an emergency.
“This partnership reflects our shared commitment to protecting Georgia’s students and ensuring every school is prepared to respond in an emergency,” State School Superintendent Richard Woods said.
Distribution began in fall 2025, with an initial phase serving nine of the state’s 16 Regional Education Service Agencies and covering more than half of public schools in metro Atlanta, southwest Georgia and central Georgia. The remaining RESAs are scheduled to receive kits in spring 2026, completing statewide coverage.
Georgia’s RESAs will host “stuff-the-box” events where school and community leaders can help assemble the kits.
DBHDD and GOCAT will ship the kits and protective equipment using settlement funds. DBHDD is partnering with the Georgia Harm Reduction Coalition to distribute Narcan supplied through the Teva Pharmaceutical settlement. GaDOE and DBHDD’s Community Service Boards will provide training resources and best practices to help school staff recognize and respond to suspected overdoses.
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