School Guidelines

Sending a child to school can be frightening for a parent who has been devoted to watching and caring for the safety of their allergic child. For very young children, it is critical to select a preschool that is receptive to you and your concerns. Find a school that will let you make a presentation to the children. Find a school where the teachers are in close communication with parents and each other. The risk of accidental exposure to foods can be reduced in the school setting if schools work with students, parents, and physicians to minimize risks and provide a safe educational environment for food-allergic students.

Family's Responsibility

• Notify the school of the child's allergies.
• Meet with the teachers and other caregivers. Plan to give them an action plan detailing what to do in the event of an emergency. Bring an EpiPen® trainer to demonstrate the correct use of the EpiPen® and review what foods are safe and not safe. Work with the school team to develop a plan that accommodates the child's needs throughout the school including in the classroom, the gym, the cafeteria, in after-care programs, during school-sponsored activities, and on the school bus.
• Tour the kitchen and note the snacks they will feed the children. Make a list of safe and not-safe products.
• Make a presentation to the children explaining your child's allergies and how they can help.
• Provide properly labeled medications and replace medications after use or upon expiration.
• Educate the child in the self-management of their food allergy including: determination of safe and unsafe foods, strategies for avoiding exposure to unsafe foods, symptoms of allergic reactions, how and when to tell an adult they may be having an allergy-related problem, and how to read food labels (age appropriate).
• Check the school's emergency supplies, and provide alternatives to offending foods (i.e. soynut butter or sunbutter instead of peanut butter).
• Provide emergency contact information.
• Place a “safe snack box” in your child's classroom. Pack a variety of non-perishable safe snack treats, like candy or cookies. Your child can have a treat from home if there is an unexpected celebration or snack at school.

School's Responsibility

• Be knowledgeable about and follow applicable federal laws including ADA, IDEA, Section 504, and FERPA and any state laws or district policies that apply.
• Review the health records submitted by parents and physicians.
• Include food-allergic students in school activities. Students should not be excluded from school activities solely based on their food allergy.
• Identify a core team including, but not limited to, school nurse, teacher, principal, school food service and nutrition manager/director, and counselor (if available) to work with parents and the student (age appropriate) to establish a prevention plan. Changes to the prevention plan to promote food allergy management should be made with core team participation.
• Assure that all staff who interact with the student on a regular basis understands food allergies, can recognize symptoms, knows what to do in an emergency, and works with other school staff to eliminate the use of food allergens in the allergic student's meals, educational tools, arts and crafts projects, or incentives.
• Coordinate with the school nurse to be sure medications are appropriately stored, and be sure that an emergency kit is available that contains a physician's standing order for epinephrine. In states were regulations permit, medications are kept in an easily accessible secure location central to designated school personnel, not in locked cupboards or drawers. Students should be allowed to carry their own epinephrine, if age appropriate, after approval from the student's physician/clinic, parent and school nurse, and allowed by state or local regulations.
• Designate school personnel who are properly trained to administer medications in accordance with the State Nursing and Good Samaritan Laws governing the administration of emergency medications.
• Be prepared to handle a reaction and ensure that there is a staff member available who is properly trained to administer medications during the school day regardless of time or location.
• Review policies/prevention plan with the core team members, parents/guardians, student (age appropriate), and physician after a reaction has occurred.
• Work with the district transportation administrator to assure that school bus driver training includes symptom awareness and what to do if a reaction occurs.
• Recommend that all buses have communication devices in case of an emergency.
• Designate a lunch table that is peanut free. (see peanut-free easel), and enforce a policy for kids to wash hands after meals.
• Enforce a “no eating” policy on school buses with exceptions made only to accommodate special needs under federal or similar laws, or school district policy. Discuss appropriate management of food allergy with family.
• Discuss field trips with the family of the food-allergic child to decide appropriate strategies for managing the food allergy.
• Follow federal/state/district laws and regulations regarding sharing medical information about the student.
• Take threats or harassment against an allergic child seriously.

Student's Responsibility

• Should not trade food with others.
• Should not eat anything with unknown ingredients or known to contain any allergen.
• Should be proactive in the care and management of their food allergies and reactions based on their developmental level.
• Should notify an adult immediately if they eat something they believe may contain the food to which they are allergic.

More detailed suggestions for implementing these objectives and creating a specific plan for each individual student in order to address his or her particular needs are available in The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network's (FAAN) School Food Allergy Program. The School Food Allergy Program has been endorsed and/or supported by the Anaphylaxis Committee of the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, the National Association of School Nurses, and the Executive Committee of the Section on Allergy and Immunology of the American Academy of Pediatrics. FAAN can be reached at: 800/929-4040.

The following organizations participated in the development of this document:
American School Food Service Association, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Association of School Nurses, National School Boards Association, The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network

primarily based and reprinted with permission from The Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Netowrk,
www.foodallergy.org

Next: 2. Being Prepared for out-of-home events