The Franklin school board had plans to take up two hot-button topics on the policy portion of its agenda Monday evening.
Members did discuss the issue of administering Narcan in its schools at some length, though the second item, a federally recommended policy on transgender or gender non-conforming students, was tabled until next month.
In a policy subcommittee meeting prior to the full school board meeting, several board members scanned over a draft policy document outlining how the opioid overdose drug Narcan would be stored, administered and reported within the Franklin School District.
Though subcommittee member Tim Dow referenced the “Emergency Care and First Aid” policy – a model policy by the New Hampshire School Board Association – as required by federal law, the NHSBA noted that sentences addressing Narcan are not required to be included.
Franklin School District, however, is considering authorization for the superintendent to procure Narcan.
Dow said, “I don’t want a student dying . . . I don’t want that on our hands.”
A school nurse or other trained staff member would be the person administering the overdose reversal drug in an emergency situation. When administered, the policy directs local law enforcement and emergency medical service personnel to be notified.
Policy subcommittee member Susan Hallett-Cook suggested that wasn’t enough – that 911 should be dialed as soon as the Narcan was administered.
“It has to be more than just the nurses – there has to be a procedure in place,” she said. Hallett-Cook added that when someone overdoses and is then brought back with Narcan, “they come out of that angrier than angry. You have to have first responders there ASAP.”
The subcommittee agreed the language needed to be updated. It also suggested that legal counsel, a school nurse, and Franklin fire Chief Kevin LaChapelle take a look at the policy before the second reading and that both the fire chief and Franklin police Chief David Goldstein come in to discuss Narcan.
In the full board meeting, member Deb Brown mentioned that she thought the school district already had Narcan in the nurse’s office. Other board members confirmed that it had been handed out at a school nurses conference, which is how it got there in the first place.
“Policy should be set prior to this being approved by the board,” Brown said.
She was the sole board member of nine to not approve the policy’s first reading, and later when board members took a vote on whether to allow the existing Narcan to remain within the schools, Brown and Hallett-Cook both voted “nay.”
Vice Chairwoman Robyn Gargano said, “I agree with having Narcan in the school because it cuts down on response time.” But, she and others added, ideally it should be approved by the board first.
Though it was listed first on the policy portion of the agenda, a U.S. Departments of Education and Justice jointly recommended policy regarding non-discrimination of transgender and gender non-conforming students was tabled until the next Franklin School Board meeting.
“The transgender one we have to meet on,” said Hallett-Cook.
The subcommittee does have a model policy it is working with. It requires students to be allowed to use the bathroom corresponding with their gender identity “consistently asserted at school.”
Students should also always have access to a single stall bathroom if requested, the policy says.
On the issue of locker rooms, the policy reads that their use by a transgender student “shall be assessed on a case-by-case basis.”
Also included in the policy are requirements to not reveal a student’s transgender status or gender non-conformity unless legally obligated or given permission by the student to do so, and to use the name or pronoun corresponding to a student’s gender – and not necessarily legal – identity.
The policy also requires that transgender and gender non-conforming students be allowed to participate on sports teams “in a manner consistent with their gender identity.”
The topic of transgender and gender non-conforming students will be taken up at the Aug. 15 Franklin school board meeting.
(Elodie Reed can be reached at 369-3306, ereed@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @elodie_reed.)