Sponsors (9)
Introduced May 1, 2025 by Suzanne Bonamici · Last progress May 1, 2025
The bill directs federal coordination, data collection, targeted grants, training, and naloxone access to reduce youth synthetic‑opioid harm—improving prevention and response for many students and schools—but it creates new costs, administrative and privacy burdens, and may leave many communities unserved or constrained by federal rules.
Students and K–12 staff will have expanded prevention, treatment, recovery supports and access to naloxone in schools, reducing overdose risk and improving immediate response to synthetic-opioid incidents.
Teachers, classified school employees, and families will receive clearer statutory recognition, evidence-based materials, and professional development so school adults can better recognize and respond to synthetic-opioid risks.
A federally coordinated Task Force, standardized data collection, and clearer definitions will give policymakers and school administrators national evidence and guidance to design and scale effective prevention and treatment programs.
Taxpayers, state and local education agencies, and school districts will face increased costs for grants, training, naloxone procurement, data systems, and program implementation.
Schools, LEAs/SEAs, and federal agencies will incur added administrative, application, reporting, and evaluation burdens that may disadvantage small, rural, or resource‑poor districts and require diversion of staff time and resources.
Students and families face privacy and civil‑liberty risks from expanded incident reporting, survey questions, and data collection if data are not carefully de‑identified and consented, and there is a risk of increased surveillance or punitive responses.
Based on analysis of 14 sections of legislative text.
Creates federal grants, a task force, training and planning requirements, expanded school safety data, and survey/reporting updates to prevent youth synthetic opioid misuse and overdoses.
Creates a federal effort to prevent and respond to synthetic opioid (including fentanyl) misuse among K–12 youth by funding a competitive pilot grant program for school–health partnerships, establishing an interagency task force, expanding school staff training and local/state education plan requirements, and improving data collection and national youth surveys. It also allows school-based health centers to obtain naloxone and requires federal agencies to add or evaluate survey and reporting measures about synthetic opioids beginning in 2026. The bill funds up to 25 three-year pilot grants for evidence-based prevention, treatment, recovery, and outreach; directs HHS (with Education) to lead the effort; amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to require training and planning around synthetic opioid prevention; expands NCES school-safety data collection; and mandates updates to national youth substance-use surveys and an evaluation of overdose reporting systems.