The Problem.

A diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes is devastating. Children and their parents, feeling vulnerable and shocked, must nonetheless learn how to provide routine care and adapt to their changed lives. The burden of this disease is further exacerbated when misguided school policies force parents to attend school all day, every day to test blood glucose levels and administer insulin.

Despite the requirements of federal anti-discrimination laws, such as The Rehabilitation Act and The Americans with Disabilities Act, many school policies are still based on fear and misinformation, leaving a disquieting number of families alone in their struggle to make school environments safe for their children. The stories are alarming. READ MORE >>>

Without something more than aggrieved parents to enforce them, these federal laws are, for all practical purposes, toothless. Without specific, state legislation, students with diabetes face discrimination at school---and worse.

Inequities.

Without specific state legislation like The Care of Students with Diabetes Act, parents have no local authority to turn to. Parents can appeal to school principals or local school boards but if those entities authored the misguided policies in the first place, they are unlikely to prevail.

Parents can also complain to the a state's Board of Education but a recent study in Illinois shows that without a lawyer it's highly improbable that parents will find relief. (See: Access and Equity in the Due Process System: Attorney Representation and Hearing Outcomes in Illinois, 1997-2002, Melanie Archer, Ph.D., December 2002. READ IT HERE >>>)

Parents only recourse then is to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, or file a federal lawsuit.

The result of these complaints---no matter the outcome---is discrimination. Why? Because protections afforded by federal law become available only to those children whose parents can afford to argue and sustain a case, sometimes over a period of years.

Parents who care for children with chronic health conditions like diabetes, asthma and allergies already perform the heroic every day. They shouldn't have to add a federal case to their to-do list just so their kids can be as safe at school.

But they do.

One mother in Illinois campaigned a two-year complaint against her child's school through the Office of Civil Rights. Rather than train its staff to perform simple tasks, the school called 911 every time the child needed help with routine diabetes care.

Another parent had to build a team of legal and medical experts to fight a school district that implemented a "No Needles, No Blood" policy.

A high-school student was prohibited from carrying her equipment and medication. When she became hypoglycemic, she couldn't access her supplies and treat the low, which jeopardized her health and safety. Reasonable attempts by the girl's family to resolve the policy conflict ended with the school retaliating to such an extreme degree that the case is now before a federal judge.

Other families keep their children on less intensive insulin therapies that do not require a lunchtime injection just to avoid the possibility of losing the goodwill they currently enjoy at their child's school.

Answers.

At first glance, a nurse in every school appears to be the ideal solution---and not just for students with diabetes, but for all students who must manage chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, food allergies and seizure disorders.

Unfortunately, a staffing mandate cannot solve the problem. No one, not even a school nurse, can be available at all times. There will be days when the school nurse is out sick. There will be moments when the nurse will be called to two, maybe three places at once. There will be field trips, after school events, and extra-curricular activities where the school nurse won't be available.

The Care of Students with Diabetes clarifies federal protections, establishes the standard of care for students with diabetes, and allows willing, capable teachers and administrators to partner with parents and healthcare providers and learn how to provide routine and emergency care. This ensures that children with diabetes remain safe, healthy and in school and that they have access to the same educational opportunities and activities as other children.