Parents question draft of allergy policy

The Oceanside school district presented the first draft of its allergy policy — mainly those to food — at the Jan. 20 Board of Education meeting. Parents had many questions about the policy and suggestions to improve it.

The policy outlines that the parents are responsible for informing schools of a child’s allergy, and that the schools are responsible for minimizing exposure to allergens, and the procedures to follow when a child has an allergic reaction at school.

The full draft is on the school district’s website at this link: http://www.oceansideschools.org/BOE/14-15/Allergy%20Policy%202014-15.PDF.

According to Superintendent Phyllis Harrington, the policy was drafted with input from committees from each school, which included parents of children with food allergies. “This has been a long process since the beginning of the year and it came to us through a variety of ways when we realized that our policy was almost nonexistent — let alone vague,” Harrington said. “But in reality, the practice of what was going on in every single one of our schools was outstanding and continues to be.”

First, board member Sandie Schoell said that classrooms and outside organizations that use the school buildings should be added to areas and activities that the district would monitor for accidental allergen exposure.

Parent Kim Weiss asked why an allergist had not reviewed the policy. She also asked why the policy says training will be provided to staff members who are “willing to participate” instead of making training mandatory.

Board member Mary Jane McGrath-Mulhern said that the district could not mandate training. “I can’t imagine not one of [the teachers in the district] wouldn’t want to be trained in it,” McGrath-Mullhern said. “And I don’t know any one of them would them that would opt out not to help a child. But apparently, the policy we’re not allowed to force them to be trained.”

Harrington said the board could work on the wording for staff training to make it an expectation, and that an allergist reviewing the policy was “a reasonable request.”

“School six is on point,” Weiss said. “I haven’t had an issue, but I’m a big advocate for my son. I will be. But it’s a problem with the parents that don’t know to advocate.”

Other issues brought up by parents were students who eat at their desks, and the concern that the nurse’s office would be too far away for quick medical help in larger buildings, such as the middle school.

Jill DeRosa, the assistant superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and Research, said that yellow boxes containing junior and regular EpiPens would be soon installed in school cafeterias. “So we’ve actually doubled the locations as a result of this,” DeRosa said. “Where the EpiPens are available in our buildings.”

The school board will discuss the policy again in March.