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 Posted: Sep 13th, 2011 at 09:51 pm
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USDA fully supports children with Life-Threatening Food allergies
http://dese.mo.gov/divadm/food/documents/sfs-mprosp11-01_000.pdf
This is a memorandum that was written to clarify the responsibility to the state agencies,... i.e. your state department of education, in which the USDA fully supports children with Life-Threatening Food Allergies under Section 504 and the Federal Regulations of the USDA. It is the responsibility of the State agency then to send it out to your local school districts.
 for the USDA.
The USDA has a much better record for handling OCR complaints for children with life threatening food allergies than the Dept. of Education ever will. At least at this point in time.
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DD allergic to PN/TN, Eczema and severe seasonal allergies. Out grew allergy to milk and eggs. OAS to a number of raw fruits and veggies. Asthma
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Posted: Sep 13th, 2011 at 10:04 pm
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Posted: Sep 13th, 2011 at 10:12 pm
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Well, I see a couple of big flaws in it. One is that it requires parents to sign a release of information for the allergist. That is something that has been discussed on this board. Releases like that can really work against the allergic child. The school can then contact the allergist and twist around what the allergist said in order to deny accomodations.
The second thing is the safe treat box. Not every parent is okay with that. I was not. If another parent wants to use that, that is fine for their child, but I consider the safe treat box to be unsafe. I never allowed it. I don`t think a statement that every nut allergic child shoud have a safe treat box is any more appropriate than saying that every nut allergic child should have a nut free table. I don`t think there is a one size fits all approach to a safe treat box. I would never be comfortable with dd having one. There are too many ways that reactions can result for me to ever be comfortable with it. If the child is going to have his own treat anyhow, then he really isn`t included. I found that it works just as well to get a list of birthdays and put a treat in dd`s lunchbox whenever there was a birthday. Some people including me have taught our kids when they are little to only eat what came out of their lunchbox.
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Posted: Sep 13th, 2011 at 10:24 pm
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Sep 13th, 2011 at 10:12 pm, Carefulmom wrote:
Well, I see a couple of big flaws in it. One is that it requires parents to sign a release of information for the allergist. That is something that has been discussed on this board. Releases like that can really work against the allergic child. The school can then contact the allergist and twist around what the allergist said in order to deny accomodations.
The second thing is the safe treat box. Not every parent is okay with that. I was not. If another parent wants to use that, that is fine for their child, but I consider the safe treat box to be unsafe. I never allowed it. I don`t think a statement that every nut allergic child shoud have a safe treat box is any more appropriate than saying that every nut allergic child should have a nut free table. I don`t think there is a one size fits all approach to a safe treat box. I would never be comfortable with dd having one. There are too many ways that reactions can result for me to ever be comfortable with it. If the child is going to have his own treat anyhow, then he really isn`t included. I found that it works just as well to get a list of birthdays and put a treat in dd`s lunchbox whenever there was a birthday. Some people including me have taught our kids when they are little to only eat what came out of their lunchbox.
The 'release' is for food service to share the information with the school nurse and staff. NOT for the parents to sign a release for the school district to speak with the allergist. We agree that you never sign over authority for any school district to speak with your allergist.
On your second point... we clarified this with the USDA. It is the school's responsibility to provide the alternative safe treats not the parent. The teacher works with the parent and then those treats are provided by the district. Earlier on in the memorandum you will see that they state: "In other words, a child with life-threatening food allergy must be included in any and all activities sponsored by the school or taking place during the school day, involving food."
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DD allergic to PN/TN, Eczema and severe seasonal allergies. Out grew allergy to milk and eggs. OAS to a number of raw fruits and veggies. Asthma
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Posted: Sep 13th, 2011 at 10:33 pm
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About the release, that sentence was a little difficult to understand, since the sentence mentions a licensed physician, but I can see what you are saying. In scrutinizing the sentence, it does not actually say that the physician will release information, only that the physician will sign the form.
About the safe treat box, my issue isn`t about who provides the treats, but rather the fact that there are so many ways that the safe treat box can go wrong. I don`t think they can assume that every parent is willing to take that risk. I, for one, am not. Also, for those of us who teach our small children to only eat what came out of their lunchbox, it undermines our ability to do that. There is no reason that for something like a birthday where the parents know the date in advance, that parents shouldn`t just give the teacher a certain amount of notice. Dd`s teachers always required two days notice for birthday celebrations, partly due to it taking away from teaching. That eliminates the need for a safe treat box anyhow. Just ask the parents to noticy the teacher a day or two in advance. The safe treat box gives me the willies. I don`t think any legal document should be telling us to take on that risk.
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Posted: Sep 13th, 2011 at 11:33 pm
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DD allergic to PN/TN, Eczema and severe seasonal allergies. Out grew allergy to milk and eggs. OAS to a number of raw fruits and veggies. Asthma
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Posted: Sep 14th, 2011 at 10:10 am
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I must be missing something. I don`t see anything in there about the safe treat box. Where is it?
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CMdeux
Moderator1 Member is offline Sure, the voices aren't real-- but sometimes they have good ideas.
Posts: 27,544
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Posted: Sep 14th, 2011 at 11:44 am
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About page five, Carefulmom, we began discussing the SCHOOL's obligation to provide a 'safe treat' if that is how they choose to manage things.
(That is, the responsibility-- wholly-- rests with the school.)
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"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." -Robert Louis Stevenson
USA
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maeve
Member Member is offline
Posts: 4,378
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Posted: Sep 14th, 2011 at 11:46 am
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Sep 13th, 2011 at 10:24 pm, stlalohagal wrote:
Sep 13th, 2011 at 10:12 pm, Carefulmom wrote:Well, I see a couple of big flaws in it. One is that it requires parents to sign a release of information for the allergist. That is something that has been discussed on this board. Releases like that can really work against the allergic child. The school can then contact the allergist and twist around what the allergist said in order to deny accomodations.
The second thing is the safe treat box. Not every parent is okay with that. I was not. If another parent wants to use that, that is fine for their child, but I consider the safe treat box to be unsafe. I never allowed it. I don`t think a statement that every nut allergic child shoud have a safe treat box is any more appropriate than saying that every nut allergic child should have a nut free table. I don`t think there is a one size fits all approach to a safe treat box. I would never be comfortable with dd having one. There are too many ways that reactions can result for me to ever be comfortable with it. If the child is going to have his own treat anyhow, then he really isn`t included. I found that it works just as well to get a list of birthdays and put a treat in dd`s lunchbox whenever there was a birthday. Some people including me have taught our kids when they are little to only eat what came out of their lunchbox.
The 'release' is for food service to share the information with the school nurse and staff. NOT for the parents to sign a release for the school district to speak with the allergist. We agree that you never sign over authority for any school district to speak with your allergist.
On your second point... we clarified this with the USDA. It is the school's responsibility to provide the alternative safe treats not the parent. The teacher works with the parent and then those treats are provided by the district. Earlier on in the memorandum you will see that they state: "In other words, a child with life-threatening food allergy must be included in any and all activities sponsored by the school or taking place during the school day, involving food."
This is a good find. Though I wonder where parental approval of the treat comes into play?
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"Oh, I'm such an unholy mess of a girl."
Virginia, US
DD: eggs, peanuts, tree nuts; OAS to cantaloupe and cucumber
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Posted: Sep 14th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
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Carefulmom, My school would tell you that they cannot control what/when parents bring in bday treats. I could NEVER have gotten a list of bdays or any advanced notice from my school. We had it put in her 504 that all treats would be served at dismissal. That way dd didn't have to stand 5 feet away and watch all her classmates eat, she could simply leave and go home. If she wanted a treat, I gave her one.
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Posted: Sep 14th, 2011 at 12:46 pm
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What if your the disabled child is not in the food program? When we filled out the form, we stated dd will not be eating any foods provided by the cafeteria. The form is completed however with the physician signature.
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Gail
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Posted: Sep 14th, 2011 at 01:03 pm
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maeve
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Posted: Sep 14th, 2011 at 02:26 pm
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Sep 14th, 2011 at 01:03 pm, Gail wrote:
Which form? Is it a public school?
I also have never seen a form.
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"Oh, I'm such an unholy mess of a girl."
Virginia, US
DD: eggs, peanuts, tree nuts; OAS to cantaloupe and cucumber
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Gail
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Posted: Sep 14th, 2011 at 03:37 pm
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Posted: Sep 14th, 2011 at 04:05 pm
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Sep 14th, 2011 at 11:44 am, CMdeux wrote:
About page five, Carefulmom, we began discussing the SCHOOL's obligation to provide a 'safe treat' if that is how they choose to manage things.
(That is, the responsibility-- wholly-- rests with the school.)
But my point was not about who provides the safe treat. My point was that I find these guidelines to be inappropriate, because they assume that every parent is willing to assume the risk of a safe treat box. The whole concept of a safe treat box gives me the willies, no matter who provides the treats. If you are teaching your five year old to only eat what comes out of their lunchbox, it undermines that. If the teacher passes out an unsafe cupcake, does not wash hands, and then give the allergic child his treat, he can have a reaction. If the Girl Scouts are meeting in the classroom and "borrow" a treat and then replace it with something that appears identical but is a different brand, that is a reaction waiting to happen. If the teacher accidentally goes to a different child`s safe treat box, that is a reaction waiting to happen. I could go on and on about the reactions that happen due to a safe treat box. It is just one more way for teacher to slip up. If people are comfortable with it for their child, that is fine. But I don`t think USDA should have a policy telling us our kids should have a safe treat box, even if the treats are provided by the parent of the allergic child.
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USDA Memorandum to State Agencies : RE: Life-Threatening Food Allergies - (Read 2,260 Times)
