The West Windsor-Plainsboro school district has adopted new regulations and policies aimed at curbing the danger to students with food allergies, including students with anaphylaxis.##M:[more]##
During the May 26 school board meeting, the school board adopted the new regulations, which set up procedures for parents to submit written protocols for students with allergies, and a slew of exercises aimed at ensuring school personnel have the training and resources to deal with students who have food allergies.
Tom Smith, Assistant Superintendent of Planning and Pupil Services, who joined the board for his last meeting on May 26, said the district received some guidance from state guidelines that were published in September, and since then, committees had been meeting to discuss various issues, including food allergies.
“The decision was to develop a policy to address the increasing number of students in the district who have food allergies,” said Smith. He said there have been a number of cases the district experienced over the last six months, and the guideline will help officials in dealing with the issue, he said.
In the regulations, the board recognizes that food allergies may be severe or even life-threatening. “The food most likely to cause allergic reactions are peanuts, tree nuts, dairy products, eggs, soy, wheat, fish, seeds, shell-fish, and other substances such as latex,” the school regulation reads. The school district created the regulation “to reduce the likelihood of severe allergic reactions of students with known food allergies while at school,” the regulation states.
The regulation states that parents shall submit written protocols about their students’ allergies, and that the school nurse will work with parents to develop an appropriate plan to outline reasonable protocols. The information about a student’s allergies will be shared, in writing, with faculty and staff who have contact with the student, but will otherwise be kept confidential. If a specific accommodation needs to be made, it will be done on a case-by-case basis whether to inform other parents regarding a particular student’s allergy, or provide information to the student body as a whole, the regulations state.
The regulations also stated that the school board will provide anaphylaxis training opportunities for faculty, staff, and coaches, and that the board will attempt to have an anaphylaxis trained staff member at all district-sponsored activities. However, no guarantees are made in this regard by the guidelines.
According to the regulations, anaphylaxis is a sudden, severe, potentially fatal systemic allergic reaction that can involve various areas of the body, such as the skin, respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, and cardiovascular system.
The board will also keep epinephrine in each school and in field trip first aid kits when either a nurse or epinephrine-trained adult accompanies the trip, the regulations also state.
The district will also be working with the contracted food service agency to reduce the likelihood that peanuts, tree nuts, or nut oil products are served during normal hours, and that these agencies do not use foods that specifically list nut or peanut products on the ingredient labels. The school district will also not be selling peanuts or peanut products in school-sanctioned vending machines.
And a principal may request that parents not send snacks to school that contain those products.
The regulations also set up parent and student responsibilities, including their responsibility to send a list of emergency medications and treatment protocol to school officials, and that they educate their students about managing their allergies at school.
