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New information from the county sheriff's office reveals eight students suffered opioid related overdoses at Park View High School in Sterling, seven of which happened in the last three weeks.
Four of the overdoses occurred in the school, three of which required the administration of Narcan, the sheriff's office said. Two of those required CPR by school personnel. All the overdoses appear to involve fentanyl, which is commonly found in the form of a counterfeit 30 mg oxycodone pill that is blue, circular, and may be stamped “M30”.
The LCSO has assigned additional resources to Park View High School to identify the source and distribution of the opioids and is working closely with LCPS administrative and security personnel there.
“We know the overwhelming number of Park View students are responsible and care about the safety of their school, and we are putting all available resources into identifying who is responsible for distributing these lethal drugs,” Sheriff Mike Chapman said. “We have also encouraged LCPS to continue its communications with the Park View community and have offered our assistance with additional educational and security measures."
“I am concerned and saddened by this crisis impacting the Park View community,” said Dr. Aaron Spence, LCPS Superintendent. “LCPS is taking active steps to support our students, families and staff with fentanyl awareness and education, including training and supplying staff in each of our high schools with Naloxone for emergencies."
Park View families this week received a message with information and resources, and school leadership is holding grade-level assemblies and parent meetings. Extra administrators, counselors, and Safety & Security Officers are also supporting our Park View community.
"We began to address Fentanyl awareness last spring, with a series of six community information sessions and will continue this effort division wide," Spence said. "I think it is important to note that the issue of addiction is truly at play here. When students come to school, we want them to learn and thrive. But, most of all we want them to live. We must, as a community, come together to find ways to help our young people who are facing these issues,” he added."
No names will be released by the LCSO, nor information about the status of the ongoing investigation.
Including these recent overdoses at Park View, the LCSO has investigated 18 reports of opioid overdoses of Loudoun County juveniles this year. In 2022, the LCSO investigated a total of 19 comparable reports.
Fentanyl is a potent synthetic opioid, easy to disguise, and relatively inexpensive to produce and distribute. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, seven out of every 10 pills seized contain a lethal dose of fentanyl.
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