Are all DCPS/ Charter Schools peanut/nut free?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
Janney is nut free.
I wonder if middle and high schools are also not free? |
Anonymous
We were a Janney family who has moved on to Deal. Deal is definitely not nut-free. |
Anonymous
|
Ask for a 504 plan and get your doctor to fill out a food allergy action plan:
http://www.foodallergy.org/faap? Foodallergy.org has a wealth of info and you should read it thoroughly. Insist on a peanut and nut free classroom and a peanut and nut free lunch table. Ask to be aware of other student's upcoming birthday celebrations so that you can provide a safe alternative cup cake or a Krsipy Kreme donut which are peanut and nut free (but always check labels since manufacturers can change ingredients at any time). Ditch the epi-pen and get an Auvi-Q epi pen which is much smaller, less scary, and much easier to use since it talks you through the process. The web site has coupons to get it at a reduced price. https://www.auvi-q.com/ Insist that all teachers and lunch room staff be trained in CPR, First Aide, and how to administer epi-pens and auvi-q. Insist that your epi-pen always be in the same location as your child with someone trained on how to give epi-pen at all times. The epi-pen should not be locked up somewhere in an office since every minute counts when it comes to treating anaphylaxis. I provided the school a fanny pack for the teacher to carry the epi-pen and benadryl. If the school insists that the epi-pen must be locked somehow then insist on the type of lock used on hospital emergency medication carts which can be ripped open by hand. Always check every single ingredient on every single thing every single time. Do not allow your child to eat other homemade food since most folks to not know how to prevent cross contamination or how to check labels. Do not eat at Asian resturaunts and take extreme care at others. Teach your child to only eat what is in her lunch box that you made. Teach your child to only accept food from you and from no one else. Provide safe treats in her lunch box for unexpected parties at school. When your kid is old enough, teach them to carry epi-pen and benadryl in a fanny pack at all times when out of the house. Insist that your child be allowed to carry their meds on their person when they are old enough. My kid was allowed in 5th grade. Have a designated place to keep epi-pen in the house. Always carry 2 epi-pens and benadryl. You carry an extra set. |
Anonymous
|
Nope. Not only not nut free, but can have some really problematic policies in place. Like teachers will simply sit the kid with peanut butter at a different table - in the classroom, because pre-k eats in the classroom, which is a recipe for disaster. Made all the more problematic by the refusal to keep epi-pens in the classroom. Nope, epi-pens are on a different floor, in a locked toolbox, in a locked cabinet in the nurses office to which only the nurse has the key. Which means several minutes under the best of circumstances if the nurse just happens to be waiting, by the phone, ready to dash that epi-pen down, and a really big problem if the nurse, say, has another kid in the office she can't leave, is on lunch break, doesn't pick up the phone, has left the office to go elsewhere, goes to the bathroom, takes a break etc. Oh, and on field trips - nope, that epi-pen can't go with you - because, you know, usually field trips don't involve lunch so as far as the nurse (!) is concerned, zero need for an epi-pen. And they won't train teachers because as the nurse said, do I really trust a teacher to administer it right? (from my perspective, I'd sure hope so - not rocket science, and these are well educated...educators, I have faith that they can learn to use an epi-pen, and less faith that the nurse who should know better thinks its ok not to send the epi-pen on field trips).
ETOP but well regarded for pre-K with some demanding parents - but apparently no demanding parents with allergic kids, since no one has challenged this before. It'll be a fun summer for us as we work on this...we're hoping some education and lots of paperwork from the doctor will smooth the way... It's 180 degrees from the response we get at daycares, which are nut free across the board even for what kids bring in, and have the epi pen in the class, which goes where the kid goes - I don't understand how the world loses their collective minds and any and all allergy knowledge when they step into an elementary school, but the daycares working with the same ages are totally on top of this... |
Anonymous
| My kids don't have any allergies, but it seems like having kids grow up in a nut-free bubble is not the best answer. I would want my children to learn at an early age how to live with a life-threatening allergy because there will be a lot of situations where I wouldn't be able to protect them (field trips, camps, birthday parties, etc.). I do think it is a shame that they don't keep the epi pens in the classrooms. Not sure how to get the rule changed, but I'd be advocating to the school board. |
Anonymous
| Just noting there's a difference between a nut-free bubble, and not bringing peanut butter into a classroom of a 3 year old who can't be expected to self-advocate, check to make sure their classmates wash hands properly or the tables are cleaned properly, or screen for peanut ingredients. 3 year olds shouldn't be put in charge of a life threatening anything. And remember that there may very well be 3 (or 4 or 5 or 6 etc) year olds with delays or disabilities or other difficulties that make putting such a responsibility on their shoulders even more inappropriate. Hell, my kid , at 3, still occasionally eats non-edible things. She's unlikely to screen out nuts successfully. Are we working on it? Of course. But she's 3. Given that epi-pens are not 100% effective at saving a child having a life threatening reaction, a nut free classroom for 3 year olds is a reasonable expectation. It's one of those harm/risk versus imposition calculations. Death tends to outweigh most things. And to the extent it's required for a child to safely access school, it's mandated by section 504. I too want my kid to learn at an early age to keep herself safe. But I can't make her learn any faster than she does, and mostly I just want her to not die. |
Anonymous
Neither is ours. There's a nut free table. Elementary school students are old enough to manage this. |
Anonymous
I think you are overestimating the ability of elementary school kids to always be able to take care of themselves. I always reminded my kid to not take food from anyone else and to only eat food from his lunch box and given by me every.single.day. Nevertheless, my child would still forget and take candy that was offered or that was available at parties on occasion until he was about 9 or 10 years of age. I have also read of teens who forgot and ate a cookie and died as a result. Therefore, asking for peanut and nut free classrooms is not unreasonable at all. This is especially with younger kids since little kids have a tendency to smear things like peanut butter all over the place. Better yet, all food should be eaten in cafeterias IMO. Why can't kindergarten teachers take kids to cafeteria for snacks? Taking little walks like that is good for the kids anyway. |
Anonymous
Oh great! My kids love almonds as a snack. |
Anonymous
One reason is that not every school has a cafeteria. Most DCPSs do (Murch being one exception). Many charters do not. |
Anonymous
|
I've never heard of "nut-free" -- though "peanut free" has been pretty common at my kid's school experiences. Are some people deathly allergic to ALL nuts? That would be a pretty severe world to live in.
Hopefully the "no-nut" thing should be gone by middle school. Nuts are a really healthy part of a (non-allergic) person's diet, or should be. |
Anonymous
You are pretty callous. I hope your kid never faces a serious disease. Furthermore, I think most allergy parents do not advocate for schools to be completely nut free except perhaps in the case of school for young children. Most advocate for classrooms to be nut free. |
Anonymous
Anyone who is allergic to peanuts should also avoid nuts since nuts are usually contaminated with peanuts according to our allergist and from what I read. As for the healthy diet, kids do eat outside of school too you know. But then again I advocate for peanut and nut free classrooms only. |
Anonymous
Tree nuts make my relative's throat close. |
Anonymous
|
I forgot to add that if your kid has nut or peanut allergies or any other food allergies then take your kid to John Hopkins Pediatric Allergy clinic to see Dr. Wood or Dr. Matsui or one of the other doctors there ASAP since they may be able to help.
http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/allergy-faculty.aspx They do research on peanut desensitization last I checked and also do food challenges which may indicate that your kid can actually eat nut or peanuts. Also check out the Peanut Anaphylaxis Cure facebook page and Private Practice OIT facebook pages for info on doctors who do desensitization for food allergies. This does not always work but it does work for some. |