BetteDavisEyes
Fasten your seatbelts...
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2010
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I started reading this thread when it was only a few pages but have not read every post in the ongoing discussion. I asked my husband to read some of the early posts because he served on our local Board of Education when a similar situation arose in one of the elementary schools in the district. He offered to attend a special parent meeting as a representative of the School Board, and I accompanied him simply out of interest in the circumstances surrounding the contentious issue. Also present at the meeting were the Superintendent, school Principal, some teachers, the child's parents, and several dozen other parents whose children were being impacted by the restrictions due to said child's peanut allergy.
The meeting started out with some animosity among parents whose children couldn't bring favorite foods, snacks, treats, etc. to school felt that their rights were being infringed upon for the sake of one child. The child was new to the school but had attended private Kindergarten where the school could not impose similar restrictions on children whose parents paid tuition. The parents had thought that the private school might be a better environment, but that wasn't going to happen, so the parents enrolled their child in the public schools that are obligated to provide an education to students who live within the district boundaries.
After nearly an hour of back and forth discussion on how and why the restrictions had to be put in place, the direction and tenor of the discourse changed when someone suggested that "we focus on the things that we CAN do rather than on what we CAN'T do." The children CAN have classroom parties with treats like chocolates without nuts, Jolly Ranchers, jelly beans, licorice, Jello Jigglers, etc., and we CAN pack a wide variety of food items in their lunch boxes that don't include peanut butter sandwiches or peanut butter sweets. The parents decided to work together with the Principal and classroom teachers to approach the situation in a positive manner rather than dwelling on the negative.
The School District had already implemented a Latex-free policy, and now special precautions would be put in place to avoid danger to children with peanut allergy, i.e. no peanut oil or peanut products used in food preparation in all school buildings. More recently, DH and I read that the cleaning products that are used in local schools have been modified due to adverse reactions in some students. As more and more children are diagnosed with allergies, asthma, etc., the trend toward altering the school environment for the health and well-being of all students will continue. jmo
The meeting started out with some animosity among parents whose children couldn't bring favorite foods, snacks, treats, etc. to school felt that their rights were being infringed upon for the sake of one child. The child was new to the school but had attended private Kindergarten where the school could not impose similar restrictions on children whose parents paid tuition. The parents had thought that the private school might be a better environment, but that wasn't going to happen, so the parents enrolled their child in the public schools that are obligated to provide an education to students who live within the district boundaries.
After nearly an hour of back and forth discussion on how and why the restrictions had to be put in place, the direction and tenor of the discourse changed when someone suggested that "we focus on the things that we CAN do rather than on what we CAN'T do." The children CAN have classroom parties with treats like chocolates without nuts, Jolly Ranchers, jelly beans, licorice, Jello Jigglers, etc., and we CAN pack a wide variety of food items in their lunch boxes that don't include peanut butter sandwiches or peanut butter sweets. The parents decided to work together with the Principal and classroom teachers to approach the situation in a positive manner rather than dwelling on the negative.
The School District had already implemented a Latex-free policy, and now special precautions would be put in place to avoid danger to children with peanut allergy, i.e. no peanut oil or peanut products used in food preparation in all school buildings. More recently, DH and I read that the cleaning products that are used in local schools have been modified due to adverse reactions in some students. As more and more children are diagnosed with allergies, asthma, etc., the trend toward altering the school environment for the health and well-being of all students will continue. jmo