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The turnout was huge for a simple committee meeting last night, but then the topic was very big in its own right.
The meeting led with an introduction to the experience of being the parent of a child with a life-threatening food allergy by Loudoun Allergy Network (LAN) president Maria Hardy. There was a presentation by LAN's advising board certified allergist, Dr. Trivedi. Then Assistant Superintendent for Support Services Jeff Platenberg and Student Health Services Coordinator Kathy Sturgeon gave the LCPS side of the story.
Many key LCPS folks including Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Sharon Ackerman, Assistant Superintendent for Pupil Services Dr. Mary Kealy, Supervisor of Elementary Education Dr. Mike Martin, Director of Student Services Anne Lewis, the senior nursing staff and several elementary principals. Thanks to Blue Ridge District Representative Priscilla Godfrey for devoting her meeting this subject and leading the Q&A. Broad Run District Representative Bob Ohneiser also attended and had insightful questions and answers.
Dozens of parents (and some kids) were there, more than at any committee meeting I've ever attended. As I characterized it to the parents last night, the meeting was neither the beginning nor the end of the communication between parents and LCPS on the matter of food allergy safety. It was however a very important milestone and demonstrated to everyone in the room that it is a topic of is great interest from parents and LCPS employees at all levels.
I hope that the excellent presentation made by Ms. Sturgeon will also get wide distribution. Many people would be surprised to learn that every school-based staff member receives food allergy safety training and that many procedures are in place to ensure the safety of each child.
The Loudoun Allergy Network expressed a desire for new policies regarding food safety during and after the meeting. Mrs. Godfrey asked LAN to continue their research into best practices and report back to the committee at a future date. I hope that LCPS elementary principals will pay special attention to the benefits of the healthy snacks policies implemented by Belmont Station and Hamilton Elementary Schools and consider implementing them in their own schools for the benefit of all children.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Food Allergy meeting report
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3 Comments:
John - Thank you very much for your comments and it was an incredible opportunity for our group. It should not be misunderstood that there are many positive actions by Cathy Sturgeon's office, Principles and teachers County wide to help protect our kids, but we feel that all schools should operate under the same food allergy policy, with flexibility where physician directed.
Enforcement/level of implementation of LCPS guidelines was still a concern after the meeting last night with many of our members, but maybe a solution, as suggested to a member today by an astute Principle from Ashburn, is to focus on a parallel initiative to educate the non-allergic children and parents in Loudoun County, in coordination with our Medical Advisor panel. Dr. Nguyen and Dr. Trevedi are already having success at this, on asthma, in some of their patient's schools in Fairfax County. I hope LCPS Principles would help support us in this possible future effort.
Maria Hardy
(ds, age 4, dd, age 2 w/ life threatening food allergies to milk, egg, peanuts, tree nuts and garlic. Also mild to soy and wheat)
I think the tremendous pressure that elementary school health clinic staff are under illustrates the need for LCPS to consider increasing the qualifications and salary accordingly. Having real nurses in all schools would logically make sense, particularly with the severe medical conditions of many students coupled with our litigious society. Teachers must be certified, why not licensed LVNs or RNs for every school? For many years our clinic did not have a health professional. Furthermore, if you have the benefit of having a licensed nurse on staff, LCPS should recognize the added value and pay them accordingly. This does not happen. What is wrong with this picture?
John,
As the mother of a child with several life-threatening food, allergies, I would like to commend you and other members of the school board for having the meeting this week and opening up the dialogue between the schools and parents.
I agree with LAN's assertions that there should be a consistent policy and procedural framework for dealing with food allergies and that within that framework, each food allergic child should have an individual health care plan.
I would strongly recommend that the county school system look at Massachusetts' and Connecticut's statewide guidelines in food allergy management. Massachusetts lead the country in creating such a policy, and Connecticut's policy was based heavily on the Massachusetts document.
Here's a link to the MA plan: http://www.doe.mass.edu/cnp/allergy.pdf
Here's a link to the CT plan: http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/lib/sde/PDF/deps/student/health/Food_Allergies.pdf
Also, students with life-threatening food allergies are generally covered under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act (http://www.foodallergyinitiative.org/section_home.cfm?section_id=8&sub_section_id=3).
As for education of fellow students, the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxsis Network (FAAN) has a program called PAL (Protect a Life) that educates the peers of food allergic children.
Though, I think the first priority should be getting a consistent procedure in place for the management of food allergic students and ensure compliance with those procedures. School staff needs to be trained that there can be no deviations from a child's allergy plan (even if they don't want to leave them out). I'd also really like to see school staff educated about issues related to food allergy such as anxiety, bullying, and inclusion.
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