I am replying to the whole list because this is not really off topic as
we are responsible for the well-being of the students in our care. I do
not think that the mother is overreacting. Our staff is trained in
recognizing a reaction and trained in the use of epi pens. Peanuts and
related products are should banned from the classroom and signs posted
in that room and in the other rooms that the child uses. Children are
not permitted to trade during snack and lunch. Seemingly innocent foods
like granola bars may be a problem. All staff even those who are not
directly responsible should be alerted to the student's allergy. The
tables should be wiped down after each snack just in case. To give up
peanut butter and other snack foods that may be contaminated by that
product and cause anaphylactic shock is a small price to pay for the
life of a child. As for the other children's parents being more
reasonable- these students might not have as strong a reaction. Just as
asthma can be triggered by cigerette smoke or pet dander or dust mites
that may cause a mild breathing problem on one end of the spectrum or
hospitalization on the other end. We just do the bet we can to prevent
a life threatening situation. Thank you for bringing this issue to the
attention of this list. Lisa
Lisa Von Drasek, MLIS
Children's Librarian
Bank Street College of Education
School for Children Pre-K- 8
610 West 112th St
NY NY 10025
lisav@bnkst.edu
212 875 4452
Teaching pre-K-8
Teaching Editor/Children's Books
Best Children's Books of the Year Nick Jr.
>>> Barb Engvall <macbarb@CHARTER.NET> 09/16/04 9:57 PM >>>
Definitely Off Topic but very serious:
We have a new kindergarten student with peanut allergy. Mother is
apparently a nurse and may be over-reacting --- wants tables to be
bleached after every snack (both AM and PM) and I don't know what
else. Sending out lists of 'ok' foods isn't enough for her. The general
feeling is that she is asking for unreasonable accommodations. I have
done some searching on the web and found some information but wanted to
poll the wide world of knowledge here and ask that if your district has
had to deal with this situation what you have done to deal with it.
This is really escalating. Unfortunately our present superintendent had
a student in a previous district die from a peanut allergy reaction and
there is a feeling that this is coloring his sensibilities and
consequently allowing this parent too much power.
I can understand that this is very serious, with the potential to be
fatal for some with this allergy, but how can a class/school exist if
you have to deal with this. We do have other children with peanut
allergies in the building but they are 'being more reasonable'.
Thanks for any help you can provide. Please reply to me directly.
Barb Engvall
Teacher-Librarian
macbarb@charter.net
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