After Protests, Edgewater School Eases Up On Policies To Protect Student With Peanut Allergy

EDGEWATER, Fla. -- A Florida elementary school beset by parental protests is scrapping some of the more severe restrictions it had implemented to protect a first-grader with a severe allergy to nuts, such as obliging classmates to rinse their mouths twice daily with water.

Parents were told Wednesday that students at Edgewater Public School, south of Daytona Beach, no longer have to rinse their mouths upon arriving and again after lunch. The school also is easing up on restrictions on classroom snacks, though pupils still must wash their hands and faces at school to avoid introducing nut residue into the classrooms.

The measures were implemented earlier to protect a first-grader who could develop breathing problems from contact with nuts. But some parents protested outside school, saying that the measures went too far.

WATCH:

Comments

[rationalworld]

10:45 PM on 03/30/2011

My son is three and the last time he was hospitalized for his peanut allergy, he nearly died. He had not eaten peanuts - he had eaten some dried fruit that was processed on shared equipment at the factory with peanuts. That is the kind of severe allergy that peanut protein now causes. To those who are comparing this little girl's allergy to their own childhood allergy or asthma, this isn't at all the same thing as what we all knew growing up. It is epidemic and it is deadly. Within moments, my son can't breathe, can't speak, while vomiting, while his eyes and mouth swell beyond recognition. His specialist is one of the top in the U.S. and talks about the kids, kids like my own little boy, who were his patients and who died. We are talking about a little six year old girl who could die. These protests are disgusting and frightening and misguided and horribly selfish. Handwashing prevents disease and could save this girl's life. (And if these parent's are only motivated by their own selfishness - I can attest to how horrible it is to be the one watching someone literally dying in front of you. You don't want your kids to experience that when their classmate dies in the classroom - trust me.)

[Muriella]

12:40 PM on 03/31/2011

I absolutely agree. Too many apples being compared to too many oranges.

Each situation is different.

[Muriella]

02:23 PM on 03/29/2011

http://calorielab.com/news/2011/03/25/tracey-bailey/

"A Facebook group called “We support young Bailey who is allergic to peanuts” was formed shortly after the news broke; as of this post, it has 430 members. Tracey Bailey, whose daughter is the target of the Edgewater Elementary protests, posted on the Facebook group’s page this morning, writing, “We have been informed that the district feels our daughter can return to school on Monday safely. There is nothing being done about the threats & then the principal will sit down with the parents and tell them to stop.” When pressed by another group member to describe the threats made, Bailey wrote, “To send their kids to school with their backpacks covered in peanut oil.”"

Is this true? If it is, how is this any different then students saying they're coming in to the school with a knife, or a gun, even, to target specific members of their school?

This was probably intended, I hope, as a mean-spirited joke.

But really, it IS a death threat.

Administration should be treating this threat, if true, in exactly the same manner as a gun, knife, or any other weapons threat.

[Raven1970]

11:48 AM on 03/29/2011

Now if only we can be this diligent in keeping drugs out of our schools, you know they kill allot more children than food allergies.

I have an idea, if you want your kid to have peanut butter roll it in a joint...it will get in to school.

[El Chingaso]

10:39 AM on 03/29/2011

I think all this has to do with chemicals in foods. Read the ingredients of processed foods these days -- peanuts included -- and it requires a degree in chemistry just to understand what those chemicals are. Wow-za.

What's the degree of liability in this case?

[notatowniegirl]

12:38 PM on 03/27/2011

I don't think these demands are excessive at all. Kids should be taught to wash their hands and if not brush, at least rinse their mouths anyway. This is just a good habit for them.

My nieces attend a school where there are no peanut products allowed at all. They are also not allowed to bring strawberries, oranges, tuna, kiwi, eggs, mayo.... there is a list of 28 different foods. There were letters sent home when they were in the seconds grade telling parents that their children are not allowed to play with their pets before school and that their school clothing be kept separate from their play clothes; that they are to be stored in sealed containers. There were 2 children with obvious obesity issues whose parents brought in fast food every day so in order to not single them out, all such food is now verboten. I used to bring it for my nieces on their birthdays and sit with them at the park next to the school. I'm not longer allowed to do that.

No cupcakes to share with the class, no cookies, or other baked goods (they have eggs). They can't have a bake sale because it'll will make the one boy in the school with the egg allergy upset because he can't have it.

[wolfiegirl]

01:34 PM on 03/27/2011

WOW; that is some list. I don't see how anyone can enforce what is done at home or before school, btw. And if there is an allergy attack, it would be impossible to prove where it came from.

[notatowniegirl]

01:13 PM on 03/28/2011

They can't really. There are a lot of parents there who have put their foot down and refuse to do it. As they said, if he's that bad pay for a home tutor.

[AmigaMan]

06:14 PM on 03/27/2011

You mean I can't bring cupcakes made with natural, organic ingredients and sweetened with natural Stevia to my class?

[AmigaMan]

06:23 PM on 03/27/2011

Shite! I better not play with my 12 budgies (parakeets to you folk) before going into the classroom. Not bring my organic fruit to school to eat?

Is that school a training ground for the Hitler Youth?

[notatowniegirl]

01:13 PM on 03/28/2011

Not if there are eggs :)

[Gaythia]

12:04 PM on 03/27/2011

As a society we have options that actually apply to all students. If it is true, as some commenters here say, that this classroom has 32 students then the real, but hidden, issue is that the student/teacher ratio is so high that none of the students can really be treated as individuals.

Do the protesting parents really want a school that can be efficiently run in assembly line fashion by excluding those that are most obviously different? If so, whose child should be next?

A quality educational experience would include the following:

1. How a community of students can learn to be generous and considerate of others.

2. Medicine and biology, the importance of basic hygiene, risk factors and individual differences.

3. History of human civilization, how societies advance and decline based on their sense of community. (as in such moral codes as: do unto others as you would have them do unto you).

Or alternatively, you could just have the children in large groups doing drills and mindless exercises. Cheaper that way (in the short run). In the long run, we would all end up with a weakened society where only the biggest bullies win.

[CapriRS302]

01:55 PM on 03/29/2011

What you miss in that assertion is that it is a natural law that the strongest will survive, and despite our best intentions we cannot change that.

[trippingrady]

08:57 PM on 04/07/2011

Our ability and desire to protect those of us that are different are also evolutionarily advantageous.

Strong doesn't always mean the mighty.

[Laxsmi de Potrero]

08:52 PM on 03/30/2011

huh, i thought gaia and natural selection played some part in advancement of the species. and whatever happened to balancing of needs and interests?

[teacher39years]

09:52 AM on 03/26/2011

Did you ever wonder why all there are so many "unusual" situations in Florida Schools? The Bush Brothers hit the " Educational Trifecta" in Florida (GeorgePresident/ No Child Left Behind , Jeb -Governor/FCAT, Neil/ Software money for Bush Tests) . Florida has been Ground Zero for Educational Reforms and everyone in Florida knows that things don't work. Rick Scott (Jeb's mentee ) has figured out how to make it as profitable as Medicare for him.

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/rick-scott-florida-medicaid-solantic
http://motherjones.com/politics/2010/12/rick-scott-florida-education-jeb-bush

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=111138135612131

[been2there]

02:16 AM on 03/26/2011

As a society, we have three options.
1. Make the accomodations needed to let her participate in society.
2. Make the accomodations needed to let her stay in isolation--including financial support and protections from denigration.
3. Tell her, "Tough luck. Enjoy your life until it ends, because we don't give a--um, hoot.

Of the three, I think the first is the best, least expensive, and most humane.

[Laxsmi de Potrero]

08:54 PM on 03/30/2011

huh> #1 to ban peanuts throughout the world? yeah, that way she can participate freely everywhere. and when did anyone give a hoot for the lives of children starving in many parts of the world?

[Nicole Dixson]

12:37 AM on 03/26/2011

It's tricky.....If it isn't your kid, it seems unfair. But if it was.............too hard of a call for me to voice my opinion. God knows, I would be upset if people didn't want my Cam-Cam in school, but then again.......

[kinger50]

01:15 PM on 03/26/2011

The law entitles children to a least restrictive environment. If the student cannot be included in the general education classroom because of a nut allergy, they might need a more restricted environment. The goal is not to restrict everyone else. To make people responsible for the disabilities of others by restricting them in such extreme ways is hardly preparing anyone for life beyond the classroom.

[jwredd]

05:52 PM on 03/26/2011

Did somebody give you the impression that the school board in question had a "goal" of restricting everyone else? The goal is to accommodate the needs of as many students as possible or necessary. Period. And how that would hinder anyone's preparation for life beyond the classroom is beyond me.......

[onwisconsin]

03:08 PM on 03/27/2011

Sorry but you're wrong. ADA applies to allergies.

[David01]

10:49 PM on 03/25/2011

Something's just not right with this picture. Even if this child had an allergy to peanuts, it cannot be this extreme. I've had lifelong allergies, and I had asthma, but I do not believe that you could insulate an individual that totally from peanuts, which are prevalent throughout our society and economy. Peanut oil is used to fry many french fries, chicken, etc. Would she have to take a route to school that skirted KFC's, Golden Chick, Popeye's ,etc.?
What was on the minds of the school admin. when they created such an extreme policy? Are they "teabaggers"? What's their agenda? Something's not right.

[maab76]

03:32 PM on 03/26/2011

I have actually been in a conference regarding allergies which ;included the allergist.

I have also had relatives who were identified with severe respiratory allergies as well who the MD informed the family that if the child as a toddler would have fallen in a field of ragweed would have died before he could have been removed from it. Our older son had not only the fish oil allergy, but also as many respiratory as the cousin. He, at age 2, was receiving de-sensitization for more tha 7 plants with shots every week for more than a year when other allergies were added. He continued de-sen shots until he was 18.

[Muriella]

07:59 PM on 03/26/2011

Are de-sensitization shots the allergy shots that people regularly go to the dr. for? Or is it a completely different thing?

[UnRed]

08:10 PM on 03/27/2011

"teabaggers" as you say would likely let her die...Remember Huckabee's comment comparing children with pre-existing conditions to burned down buildings. Nice folks, huh?

[Tazzie]

07:58 PM on 03/25/2011

I don't understand how anyone can protest a child with a life threatening medical condition. It doesn't seem too much of an inconvenience to ask kids to wash their hands and not bring nuts to school.

[commoncentz]

08:31 PM on 03/25/2011

It seems that only the nuts have a problem with it, no?

[David01]

10:52 PM on 03/25/2011

I doubt those extreme measures were necessary or even useful. She'd be more likely to develop an allergy to the chemicals used to clean everything. I had very bad allergies as a child, asthma as a teen, and I still have some allergies. I'm not buying this story. I don't know who's at fault, but there's something rotten in Denmark.

[Mstngmis]

09:15 PM on 03/25/2011

Would be fabulous if it were just the inconvenience of hand washing or no peanuts at school. Would also be fabulous if the media accurately reported both sides of this sad situation. People think proper hygeine and peanut awareness are the root of this, and it would be great if it was. How about the inability to satisfy this childs parents, even with an aid with her at all times, EPI pens readily available to her, No snacks allowed in the classroom, nothing brought in from home. Lunch boxes left outside in the Florida heat. The suggestion of wiping childrens hands and faces with Clorox wipes. No volunteering in childrens classroom. Children can't be seen in the nurses office when this child is in there. The child moved from classroom to classroom to classroom, and bringing some teachers to tears. The faculty, children and families have all bent over backwards to accomidate this child's parents and their EXCESSIVE demands. When do you call enough enough. There hasn't been an incident so these children and parents must be trying to comply! They weren't protesting the child, or demanding her removal from school, just the parents lack of satisfaction no matter what the cost to all the other children!

[AZLibDem]

09:59 PM on 03/25/2011

None of what you state here has been verified, and much of it has been refuted. Do you have any source for this at all?

[AZLibDem]

11:16 PM on 03/25/2011

The article on About.com refutes most of what you say; your allegation that the lunchboxes are left outside in the heat is directly refuted.

childparenting.about.com/b/2011/03/23/more-on-the-school-peanut-allergy-controversy-in-florida.htm

I personally doubt that you have any first-hand knowledge of the situation, but if you are one of the parents there, frankly, you should be ashamed.

[beingthebest]

07:18 PM on 03/25/2011

This conversation sickened me.

Thank God I left this country as I would be ashamed to expose my child to the selfishness, arrogance and self-centered parents that have been displayed here. I hope and pray that none of your children ever need a helping hand, and encounter one another.

This country was based on individual freedoms? tell me folks, How's that working for ya. Economy in the toilet, children killing children, no safe neighborhoods (gott'a hide behind the gates), shooting your elected officials and while everyone is touting religion, I see no evidence of any morals.

My last words on the subject. Have at me.

[sdmcmla]

07:43 PM on 03/25/2011

Well, you can be pleased with yourself since you are so superior to the rest of us. That must feel great!!!!  Aren't you special.

[beingthebest]

07:53 PM on 03/25/2011

No, I just got lucky enough to live and learn from a country of warm caring people who look out for one another. I had to unlearn all the lessons of my youth. But if you think I, and the 34 million people living in Canada without gated communities, with collective shared health care and in schools were peanuts are completely banned (and by the way, many companies are now making their offices scent free), then good for us! In my son's schools I can't recall a single parent who objected or didn't think it made complete sense to help a fellow student enjoy the childhood their own kids were getting.

[WYHKTai-Tai]

08:28 PM on 03/25/2011

Another poster said there are 32 6 yr old kids in each class!? Yet the parents haven't protested that, they're protesting to kick this little kid out because of the peanut-gate disruptions?

& the whole thing to me sounds like a 'squeeze' through litigiousness. The school is complying with over the top measures to avoid a law-suit, probably the doctor recommended such extreme measures to avoid a lawsuit him/herself. The sniffer dogs apparently found too many residues to count, yet the little girl was OK, so she is probably like most peanut allergy sufferers, not a 'girl in a plastic bubble' hyper-sensitive. Reasonable measures like peanut free school and hand washing could be implemented, but it sounds like it's more catered to the legal aspects than health aspect. They're allowed peanuts in the school, but not in the classroom? These rules don't make sense.

[David01]

10:54 PM on 03/25/2011

Huh?

[Candide33]

06:48 PM on 03/25/2011

Here is a news story from the local news with the parents and the child as well as the other parents.

http://www.clickorlando.com/video/27140113/index.html

The letter sent to the parents

http://www.clickorlando.com/download/2011/0310/27146643.pdf

[Shuey37]

08:01 PM on 03/25/2011

Seems pretty clear that the principals letter to parents made this a whole lot worse. Considering this sudden change... it did sound very dictatorial and blunt. I would have started the letter off with something like, "Our school needs your help in dealing with a potentially dangerous situation" and downplayed the fact that is was just one kid.

[commoncentz]

08:30 PM on 03/25/2011

The letter says: "I am very respectfully asking that you avoid sending any food items to school with your child that may contain nuts or nut oil. . . I sincerely appreciate your help!"

How exactly do you get "dictatorial and blunt"? You sir, have neither credibility nor honor.

[Candide33]

07:48 AM on 03/26/2011

Yea the whole thing was handled badly, they should have set it up that way since one of the other articles did say that there are other kids with peanut allergy there but none of their parents had asked extensive overhaul of the whole school.

Something like 'We have several students who are allergic to peanuts and since the incidence of this life threatening condition is on the rise we are implementing a no peanut policy school wide."

Kids and parents are usually more than willing to help as long as they do not feel that the school is being completely unreasonable.

F&F! And love your Avatar :)

[sourcreamapplepie]

06:14 PM on 03/25/2011

The funny part is that dentists and pediatricians are probably thrilled with the mouth rinsing and hand washing. It is probably a health benefit to all the kids. I'd be curious to see if this policy results in better attendance numbers due to fewer sick kids. In the state I live in attendance is a huge deal as the state pays schools for number of kids in the classroom per day. This may actually increase funding for the school. Always look on the bright side.

[hoobit]

04:27 PM on 03/25/2011

None of this child's classmates will meet their demise if they do not have a pbj sandwich for lunch, a peanut butt­er cup for dessert, and/or any other peanut product. The little girl, though, can meet hers from exposure/her allergy to peanuts.

While the school seems to have gone way overboard in their initial response to the situation, it seems more than reasonable to me that her classmates wash their hands, swish their mouths out with water, and wash their little faces with water, to assist her as she deals with her extreme allergy.

The girl can take steps to avoid *other* people who might be peanut-res­idued, but in the close confines of a lower-grad­e classroom, that's not really practical; the kids are all over everything and each other, all the time.

...besides which: Isn't teaching ALL children that washing their hands, rinsing their mouth out after eating, and keeping their face clean is a *good* thing for ~their~ health? Just imagine the number of viruses we'd prevent from spreading and the number of cavities we'd help keep from forming, if ALL our children practiced these simple, preventati­ve measures.

It's a shame the little girl's medical condition has turned people against her. It would've made so much more sense if folks had used the presence of her medical condition as a catalyst to reinforce what all our children should be doing anyway: Being pro-active in measures to safeguard their health through good personal hygiene.

[EmmaDarian]

04:35 PM on 03/25/2011

Just one clarification--the children can have PBJ for lunch. The girl has lunch in a different room, not the cafeteria. That's why lunchboxes are not stored in the classroom and kids had to rinse their mouths and wash their hands after lunch. The kids can't bring peanut snacks into the classroom, but they can have peanuts at lunch.

I'm guessing the school was trying to avoid the outright peanut ban some other schools have adopted.

[hoobit]

04:49 PM on 03/25/2011

Duly noted, EmmaDarian. The fact still remains that none of the other kids will be mortally harmed if they don't have peanut products for lunch, though, right? I think too many are focusing on how horrible the little girl and her parents are for 'preventing' classmates from having PBJs (and other peanut goodies), when that isn't the case at all.

All the girl's parents are doing is asking that their child's medical condition --and needs-- be taken into account. And, as I said, it would've been such a great 'teaching moment' if those self-same folks had used the time to reinforce/instill in their children, good personal hygiene practices. Instead, they've vilified the girl. Go figure.

[sdmcmla]

05:03 PM on 03/25/2011

Have you ever tried to manage 32 children?  How long do you think it would take to was 32 hands and faces, and rince 32 mouths, twice per day?  I figure 30 minutes per day would be about as fast as you could get it done. Now you are talking 2.5 hours of instructional time per week, which adds up to missing days of instructional time over a school year.  That's a lot of prime educational time to force a class of students to miss.
 
And, it's not the girl's medical condition that has turned people against her.  It seems that the girl's parents have made unreasonable demands (that no other parents of deathly allergic children have made anywhere in the country, from what I am hearing), and it is these demands that have made people upset and angry.  If the school simply did what other school districts do and provided a safe separate lunch area, and maybe some hand washing (no mouth washing, face washing and dog sniffing) , the accommodations for the little girl would probably have been willingly embraced.  As with most things, however, by going overboard, the school antagonized people an dmade a big deal out of what should have been a minor inconvenience for the other students.

[Muriella]

05:35 PM on 03/25/2011

Are there really 32 six year olds in one classroom? THAT is crazy. Talk about reduced instructional time. We have a mandated hard cap of 20 students per class for the primary grades.
Maybe the parents should start protesting outrageous class sizes.