ARK for schools
Twelve states now require schools to keep undesignated epinephrine on hand, and most of the rest permit it. Two manufacturer programs will supply the medication to K-12 schools at no cost. What none of them supply is a place to put it. ARK is an epinephrine storage cabinet built for a school hallway: clearly labeled, visible from a distance, tamper-resistant but never locked, and open in one motion. At $85 each, placing cabinets so a response is possible anywhere in the building is a realistic budget line.
Why a stock supply matters in a school
More than 40 percent of children with food allergies have already had a severe reaction, and the share of children with a food allergy has risen for two decades.1 In the largest school survey to date, more than one in five anaphylactic events involved someone nobody knew was allergic.2 Stock epinephrine exists for that person. A cabinet by the main office is how the nearest trained adult finds it.
What your state allows schools
School stocking: where things stand
| Permitted[PERMITTED] | 36 |
|---|---|
| Required[REQUIRED] | 12 |
| No law[NO LAW] | 2 |
| Unconfirmed[UNCONFIRMED] | 1 |
Counts are read from our dataset at build time, last verified 2026-08-28. Every jurisdiction links to its citation and source.
How to get it for your school
The prescription
Written in your organization's name, not a named person's. That is what makes the supply undesignated: it belongs to the building, not to one child.
The standing order
Ten states hand a school this second document: Arizona, California, Delaware, District of Columbia, Indiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, Utah, Virginia and Washington. Everywhere else a prescriber signs one for you, and most will.
The devices
K-12 schools have routes nobody else has. EPIPEN4SCHOOLS supplies four free EpiPen or EpiPen Jr auto-injectors, and neffyinSchools supplies four doses of neffy nasal spray free, but only where state law permits a non-auto-injector delivery system for undesignated stock use. Both require a valid prescription. Otherwise buy standard auto-injectors through your usual pharmacy or medical supplier, which is what most organizations do.
A precision point worth knowing
Several states made schools device-neutral while leaving the entity law auto-injector-only. Colorado, Idaho, Minnesota and Illinois all split this way, so your school may be able to stock nasal spray when the camp or restaurant down the road cannot. The map carries the distinction; check the row that governs you.
Ten states hand a school its standing order
Register with the health department there instead of finding a prescriber. See which ones.
Where it goes in a school
Main office first, because that is where a stranger to the building goes for help. Then the nurse's office, the cafeteria, and the gym, in that order. Most elementary schools start with three: front office, cafeteria, gym. If you have an AED cabinet, put ARK beside it: staff already know where that is, and it is already on the emergency plan.
The cabinet
$85 per cabinet, volume pricing available. Tamper-resistant but not locked, fits EpiPen, Auvi-Q, neffy and most other brands, with a tamper-evident safety strap included.
Not sure how many you need?
Tell us your square footage, number of buildings and floors, and we'll put together a configuration and a quote.