PROCEDURES FOR THE SAFETY OF STUDENTS
WITH LIFE-THREATENING ALLERGIES
 

The Baldwinsville Central School District recognizes that severe allergic reactions can be life-threatening.

Parents are required to:
1. Notify the district of your child’s allergies prior to the opening of school (or as soon as a diagnosis is made).
2. Provide the district with a detailed script from the child’s physician.
3. Complete Allergic Reaction/Anaphylaxis Health Care Plan form or equivalent document.
4. Bring emergency medication into the nurse the day that school begins (or the day before).
5. Provide emergency contact numbers to the nurse and keep them up-to-date.

School nurse is required to:
1. Coordinate the overall program for preventing and treating allergic reactions.
2. Educate staff at the beginning of each year with respect to recognition of signs and symptoms and treatment of reactions.
3. Provide staff, including Transportation and Food Service, with updated life-threatening allergy list.
4. Train willing district employees in the administration of epinephrine auto-injectors.
5. Maintain a list of students with serious and life-threatening allergies and the student’s Allergic Reaction/Anaphylaxis Health Care Plan when appropriate.
6. Train the student’s teacher on the unique allergy and emergency response protocol (his/her).

Teachers are required to:
1. Follow the district procedure for maintaining a safe classroom environment for the food allergic child with life-threatening allergies.
2. Know which students in their classroom have a life-threatening allergy and adhere to the child's emergency medical plan.
3. The teacher will adhere to the safety plan.

If a student has life-threatening allergies, the following procedures are to be implemented and followed based on student needs:

1. Develop a Plan
a. The building principal, teacher(s), school nurse, and parents of the food-allergic child shall develop a plan for dealing with the child’s life-threatening allergies based on the District Guidelines.

2. District Guidelines
a. Any person bringing a snack to be distributed to every child in the classroom must not bring in snacks whose label indicates the presence of the allergen or that the food may contain the allergen.
     i. The teacher will not dispense any snacks that have the allergen present. Parents will be required to pick up inappropriate snacks.

b. The teacher will not be doing any classroom projects that involve the allergen.
c. Class activities that require food will not include the known allergen.
d. Parents will be notified in writing that a child in the classroom has a food allergy. The letter will state that if their child ate a breakfast that contained the allergen then his/her hands are to be washed with soap and water before leaving for school. Water alone does not eliminate contamination.
e. Students will be directed to not trade snacks, lunches, and utensils.
f. Elementary school students will wash hands after eating lunch.

3. Documentation/Record Keeping
a. The teacher will retain information about each allergic student.
     i. Information will be kept in the class roster.
     ii. A notation will be provided by the student’s name in each class roster so the substitute teachers will be aware of the student along with the signs of, and interventions for, an allergic reaction.

4. Training
a. The nurse, in coordination with the building principal, will train appropriate staff.
     i. Know symptoms of allergic reaction.
     ii. Know the symptoms of a student’s allergic reaction.
     iii. Know and follow the protocol for emergency response.

5. Transportation
a. District drivers will not pass any food out to the students.
b. Drivers will be notified of students with life-threatening allergies by the Assistant Transportation Supervisor or designee.
c. Drivers will be trained in signs and symptoms and emergency response protocol.
d. The staff member in charge of out-of-district trips will confer with the nurse regarding any medical needs of those students or staff with life-threatening allergies.
e. For transportation of students on out-of-district trips such as field trips, athletic trips, extra-curricular trips, the staff member in charge will be responsible for following the district life-threatening allergy procedures unless they have made alternate plans following review with the administrator, school nurse and Assistant Transportation Supervisor.

6. Cafeteria
a. There will be an allergen-free eating desk/area/table in the cafeteria which may be placed adjacent to a cafeteria table so that the student with the allergy will have an allergen-free eating area.
b. The allergen-free desk will be washed down with the appropriate sanitizer prior to each lunch period.
c. Students will be reminded not to share lunches, snacks and utensils.

As of 10/13/16