Pennsylvania HB 803: An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, in school health services, providing for maintenance and use of opioid antagonists.

Bill Text

PRINTER'S NO. 831
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 803
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY FREEMAN, JAMES, MADDEN, STEELE, ISAACSON, PIELLI,
WAXMAN, SANCHEZ, HILL-EVANS, HOWARD, KAZEEM, WARREN, GIRAL,
OTTEN, D. WILLIAMS, MAYES, HOHENSTEIN, GREEN, CIRESI, RIVERA,
KENYATTA, CEPEDA-FREYTIZ, KRAJEWSKI, BRENNAN AND INGLIS,
MARCH 4, 2025
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, MARCH 4, 2025
AN ACT
Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
act relating to the public school system, including certain
provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
laws relating thereto," in school health services, providing
for maintenance and use of opioid antagonists.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known
as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a
section to read:
Section 1426. Maintenance and Use of Opioid Antagonists.--
(a) Within sixty (60) days of the effective date of this
section, the department, in consultation with the Department of
Health, shall develop a policy requiring a school entity
offering grade nine, ten, eleven or twelve to maintain and
provide onsite opioid antagonists in each school facility.
(b) The policy developed under subsection (a):
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(1) Shall include procedures to follow when dealing with a
suspected opioid overdose event.
(2) May not require an individual to administer an opioid
antagonist.
(3) Shall provide the quantities and types of opioid
antagonists to be maintained by the school entity.
(c) A trained school nurse, teacher or other individual in a
school entity who is considered qualified by the department may
administer an opioid antagonist during an emergency to a student
or staff member at a school facility having a suspected opioid
overdose event whether or not there is a previous history of
drug abuse.
(d) A school nurse, teacher or other individual may receive
training in the administration of opioid antagonists provided by
the Department of Health.
(e) A school entity shall maintain opioid antagonists at
each school facility in a safe and secure location.
(f) When an opioid antagonist is administered under this
section to a student or staff member at a school facility, the
school nurse, teacher or other individual considered qualified
by the department shall ensure that the student or staff member
is transported to the nearest hospital emergency department for
medical care.
(g) A school nurse, teacher or individual who has completed
training as required by the department under this section and
who, acting in good faith and with reasonable care, administers
an opioid antagonist to a student or staff member who is having
a suspected opioid overdose event:
(1) Shall be immune from criminal prosecution, sanction
under professional licensing statute and civil liability for
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administering the opioid antagonist.
(2) May not be subject to professional review for
administering the opioid antagonist.
(3) May not be liable for civil damages for acts or
omissions resulting from administration of the opioid
antagonist.
(h) The receipt of the required training and the prompt
seeking of additional medical assistance by an individual
authorized under this section to do so creates a rebuttable
presumption that the individual acted with reasonable care in
administering the opioid antagonist.
(i) As used in this section, the following words and phrases
shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection unless
the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Department" means the Department of Education of the
Commonwealth.
"Opioid antagonist" means a drug that binds to opioid
receptors and blocks or inhibits the effects of opioids acting
on the receptors. The term includes naloxone hydrochloride, also
known as Narcan or naloxone.
"School entity" means a public school, including a charter
school or cyber charter school, private school, nonpublic
school, intermediate unit or area career and technical school
operating within this Commonwealth.
"Suspected opioid overdose event" means an acute medical
condition, including severe physical illness, coma, mania,
hysteria or death:
(1) resulting from the consumption or use of an opioid
causing an adverse reaction; and
(2) that a prudent person, possessing an average knowledge
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of medicine and health, would reasonably believe is in fact an
overdose of a drug requiring immediate medical attention.
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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