Push for aid after death of a teacher

PARENTS AND elected officials renewed their push for antioverdose kits in city schools after a teacher was found dead from an apparent overdose in a Bronx school.

A janitor discovered Bronx Public School X811 special education teacher Matthew Azimi (photo) in a locked school bathroom after class ended on Nov. 30.

A needle and narcotics were found nearby, police sources said, leaving the school community reeling.

City Councilman Rafael Salamanca Jr. said the tragedy demonstrated that schools must keep anti-opioid drugs on hand.

“It’s unfortunate that there isn’t broad agreement to stock as many public places as possible with lifesaving naloxone,” said Salamanca (D-Bronx).

“Last week’s overdose in PS 811 in my community demonstrates it is needed there,” added Salamanca, who introduced a measure in August to bring the kits to all city schools.

Salamanca said he contacted reps for Mayor de Blasio to urge support for the bill.

Likewise, Staten Island Community Education Council President Mike Reilly emailed Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña on Dec. 1 in another push for the drugs.

“We can’t say that having naloxone on the scene would have changed the outcome of this incident, but in my opinion it certainly highlights that it is something that is needed,” Reilly wrote.

Reps for Fariña declined to comment on Reilly’s email.

A number of districts across the nation, including some upstate, already require schools to keep naloxone, the generic version of the brand-name drug Narcan.

When Salamanca unveiled his bill, de Blasio officials said anti-overdose kits weren’t needed.

But de Blasio spokeswoman Olivia Lapeyrolerie said the administration would review Salamanca’s bill.

“The city is distributing 100,000 naloxone kits across the city, so that all first responders have access to this medication,” Lapeyrolerie said.

Azimi was 36 when he died. His neighbors in Carmel, Putnam County, said he left behind a pregnant wife and three daughters.