Dear County Superintendents of Schools:

Apportionment for Reversing Opioid Overdose
Fiscal Year 2023–24

This apportionment, in the amount of $3,500,000, is made from the General Fund to county offices of education (COEs) pursuant to California Education Code (EC) Section 49414.8, added by Section 55 of Senate Bill 114 (Chapter 48, Statutes of 2023). Funding is allocated to COEs for the purpose of purchasing and maintaining a sufficient stock of emergency opioid antagonists for local educational agencies (LEAs) within its jurisdiction. This apportionment reflects 100 percent of each COE’s allocation for the 2023–24 fiscal year.

The COE allocations include an amount for administrative costs and an amount to purchase emergency opioid antagonists. For more information, refer to the apportionment schedule posted on the California Department of Education (CDE) Funding Results web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/reverseopioid.asp. The CDE will reevaluate funding allocations each year based on the number of middle school, junior high school, high school, and adult school school sites within each county; the number of pupils and students served by those required school sites; and any other factors determined by the department per EC 49414.8(c).

Use of Funds and Conditions of Apportionment

Pursuant to EC 49414.8(a), COEs shall purchase a minimum of two units of an emergency opioid antagonist for each middle school, junior high school, high school, and adult school school site within their jurisdiction and may enter into agreements with LEAs and other COEs to comply with these minimum purchasing requirements.

Funding may also be used to complement any emergency opioid antagonist resources allocated through the California Department of Health Care Services’ Naloxone Distribution Project.

As a condition of receiving funds, pursuant to EC 49414.8(d):  

• COEs shall coordinate the purchase of and maintain a stock of emergency opioid antagonists on behalf of LEA’s within their jurisdiction, in a manner that is best suited for distribution and use in schools by applying to be a qualified direct purchaser with the naloxone manufacturer to purchase the emergency opioid antagonist at the public interest price or by purchasing directly from a distributor, state entity, or local entity, a quantity sufficient to stock, at a minimum, two units of an emergency opioid antagonist per middle school, junior high school, high school, and adult school school sites for each LEA within their jurisdiction, may also distribute emergency opioid antagonists to LEAs for distribution to elementary school sites.
• LEAs that receive emergency opioid antagonist units from a COE, or enter into agreements with a COE pursuant to EC 49414.8(a)(3), shall ensure no fewer than two school site staff members per required school site meet the minimum standards of training for the administration of an emergency opioid antagonist as specified in EC 49414.3(e) or have undergone opioid overdose prevention and treatment training and reviewed materials available on the California Department of Public Health’s internet website.
• For training purposes, COE’s may use resources for technical assistance on the CDE or California Department of Public Health’s respective websites that include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • The California Department of Public Health Office of Communications’ Fentanyl and Overdose Prevention toolkit
  • A sample school naloxone policy
  • School and educator resources
  • Education on recognizing overdoses
  • A naloxone administration training video

Resources

The Office of School Based Health Programs has partnered with the California Department of Health to provide the following resources and support to school communities:

• Naloxone Project: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/ccdphp/sapb/pages/naloxone.aspx
• Naloxone Training Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nurz9qPGKws
  

Accounting and Payment Information

Warrants will be mailed approximately three weeks from the date of this letter. For standardized account code structure coding, use Resource Code 6620, Reversing Opioid Overdose, and Revenue Object Code 8590, All Other State Revenue.

The County Superintendents of Schools were notified of this apportionment by email sent to their CDEfisc email addresses. This letter and the accompanying apportionment schedule are posted on the CDE’s webpage at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/reverseopioid.asp.

For questions regarding programmatic requirements, use of funds, and allocation amounts, please contact Dr. Karrie Sequeira, Administrator, Office of School Based Health Programs, by email at KSequeira@cde.ca.gov. For questions regarding the payment process, please contact the Categorical Allocations and Audit Resolution Office by email at CAAR@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Dearstyne, Director
School Fiscal Services Division

ED:ct