New Jersey School Principals and Diabetes!

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ahmad ( Al ) on July 1, 2009 at 9:39am

C'mon TuD people, did u read the page! Maybe I miss understood it or something!!!! But this is Madness!!!

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Permalink Reply by Kathy on July 2, 2009 at 9:03am

I just read the page. They way I read it they are holding this up because they don't have the money for it. Which sucks. So....if the nurse isn't at school and a kid collapses. What are they going to do? Just leave him there to die?

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Permalink Reply by Kat on July 2, 2009 at 10:01am

"Under the bill, the school nurse is primarily responsible for glucagon administration. In the nurse’s absence, non-medical staff members are authorized to administer the medication by syringe. NJPSA, the NJEA, and the School Nurses Association oppose this provision due to our concerns for student safety. A student needing glucagon may be unconscious, a dosage decision is needed, the procedure requires some skill and medical judgment is involved."

Are they serious? You need a specific dosage for glucagon? Since when? If the student is unconscious or having seizures just use the whole syringe, it's an emergency. Or am I missing something? And do they really want to wait for the nurse when a student is in desperate need of a glucagon shot? What if the nurse has the day off?

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Permalink Reply by Brunetta on July 25, 2009 at 3:03pm

There is also a paragraph that says that the student can self- administer glucagon , with parent consent, in the absence of a school nurse, Now when can anyone with a hypo that severe self- administer glucagon? They have obviously never seen an individual with a severe hypoglycemic reaction, nor have they talked to any parents of a diabetic child, any diabetics themselves ,teachers, or anyone who has seen or experienced such a life-threatening condition.

I guess they wouod rather see the kid seizure, and maybe die, than be held liable for anything about the student's health care.

God Bless,
Brunetta

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Permalink Reply by trivigino edward on August 23, 2009 at 12:55pm

In July of 2008, we were told by the school nurse, Ms. Kowel, and the 9th
grade principle, Ms. Dunmore, that all blood checks for my 14 year old Type 1 diabetic son must be done in the nurses
office because of O.S.H.A. blood borne pathogen laws and that since he must
check before a shot, he can give himself that shot right in the nurses office
or eat some carbohydrates if he is low. This is argued by me because he may
pass out because of a low blood sugar on the way to the office, if that’s why he
is going there, or even from a high sugar count. After a heated debate where these
points are repeated and repeated by me, the nurse makes three suggestions. 1) A
student can walk with him to the office. 2) The nurse can be summoned to his
classroom to assist him or 3) she will go to his classroom and assist him.
My son rejects the first option as is his right to do
so for whatever reason he feels to, as do I. I picture a student
grabbing hold
of my son passing out and tumbling down a flight of stairs with him or
worse, not grabbing onto him as the student hasn't a clue what the
symptoms are right before coma. I reject
the second one, as it would reveal to entire classrooms of kids that my son has a
medical condition.
The third betrays medical confidentiality.
We are forced, in order for my son to go to school, to
accept the proposal of his going to the nurses office for blood checks, as per
the O.S.H.A. blood borne pathogen rules dictate*.according to the nurse and 9th
grade principal that is..

In December, my son
goes to the nurses office and has a
blood sugar of 48. This number is well into the pass out from low blood
sugar
range. He went there unassisted. This is a very large school of 3000 or
so students and the nurses office is down in a corner of the school.
The school has 3 levels and lots of flights of stairs.

I mention, because I am livid at this predicted episode, that this has
happened to my son to a few people whom I know. One of them says O.S.H.A.
is for employees, not students. So I look it up. NOT ONLY is O.S.H.A.
specifically just for employees and not for students, there is also a caveat in the
O.S.H.A. law that states, "the self testing and medicating by an individual is
allowed", and then gives DIABETICS AS AN EXAMPLE OF THAT CAVEAT EXCLUSION to their
law.

I forward this information to the school and demand an end
to my sons trotting off to the nurse’s office for blood glucose checks. I site
the blood glucose level of 48 as an example of what I had warned them about and how it
would be a danger to my son should something like that happen again.

The response from the
school is that, "yes, the O.S.H.A. rule allows for self testing, but he
may not test in any other place than in the nurses office because of
the N.J. Dept. of
Education guidelines which state that he may not test in any other
place but in the nurse’s office.

First off, guidelines are just that, a guideline, and DO NOT HAVE TO BE
FOLLOWED. Secondly, they lied once and i am wary now, so i look it up. The GUIDELINE SAYS JUST THE OPPOSITE OF
WHAT THE ADMINISTRATION SAYS IT DOES. I am not surprised. It states,” a student certified by their
physician as capable and knowledgeable in conducting their own blood glucose testing
SHOULD DO SO RIGHT IN THE CLASSROOM.”
That
is from the N.J.Dept of Education Task Force on Diabetes in the
Classroom, it is from 1999. That is about 10 years after the current
school policy mandate on diabetics was developed. Yes, there policy is
20 years old and pre-dates ADA,IDEA and several additions to them and
the Civil Rights Act.

This certification of his ability to check and administer insulin to himself is already on file and a part of my sons’
medical plan. It
is on file because he is under the N.J. law known as the ASTHMA LAW, which
includes “OTHER LIFE THREATENING ILLNESSES CERTIFIED BY A PHYSICIAN” (this law can be found at the end of this letter).
He
is one
of those others, and he is certified by his physician to check his
sugar levels
and administer his own insulin. Without delay and without supervision
is contained is his DR's. letter to the school. This medical plan, the
one they lied about and forced us into, is signed by the school nurse,
my sons Dr.
and my son’s mother. This Asthma Law he is
signed into allows for
the student to PREVENT or respond to emergency situations in his/her
medical
condition. The Asthmatics carry inhalers that they use when they need
to and wherever they need to. They also have EPI pens, which is a
needle delivery
system (just as my sons diabetic system is. He uses a dial pen) with a
DEA regulated drug in it, as is the contents in the inhalers they carry
a DEA regulated drug.

The school says he may check himself in the classroom.



But....he must go to the nurse for shots, and they say he can only have ONE SHOT A DAY!!!!

The reason he must go to the nurse, according to the school is because.........
the ASTHMA LAW ONLY PERTAINS TO
ASTHMATICS, not diabetics and my son is not covered by that law,
although this is at least the 4th year the school has signed documents
that put him under that law.

I point out the, “other life threatening illnesses” part of
that law. He is covered and it is signed off on by a school representative (the nurse Ms. Kowal).
Along with the fact that the signing of that paper by us includes relieving the school of all liability should
my son do his medicine incorrectly. Hardly an issue since he is in his 11th
year as a Type 1 diabetic and has taken sole care of himself for the past 4 years. That
equals about 10,000 blood checks and 9,000 shots that he has done by himself without adverse incident.


The school responds by pointing out that an overdose from insulin is far
worse than an Asthmatics overdose from an EPI pen or inhaler and they can not allow my son to do
his own medical treatment because of that ‘FACT’. (once again, i am skeptical)

I look up the treatment for an EPI pen/inhaler overdose. It
states, ‘get them to an emergency room and call poison control”.


I look up treatment for an insulin overdose. It
states, ”give
them some food or carbohydrate drink”. HMMMM....another lie??? from the
administration of a school? from the example setters to our children??
a LIE??? f n a right another lie...and there are more to come too..

By the way, a diabetic knows when they
are going low and carry carbohydrates to counter that episode. What does an
Asthmatic carry to counter their overdose?? A poison control phone number?

I forward this information to the school, who come
back to
me with,” Your sons medical plan conforms with the current state of the
laws of New Jersey and fit his medical needs”, except according to his
Drs. Letters to
the school, a very much more qualified person to decide what's in the
patients best interest than a school lawyer or administrator
on this subject, it does NOT fit his medical needs. It does not come
close fitting his medical needs. The Drs. orders to the
school are that my son should test wherever and whenever he feels a
need to and before lunch, and if necessary give himself the
appropriate shot WITHOUT DELAY AND NO SUPERVISION IS NECESSARY.Now i
don't know what the schools idea of without delay is, but the given
connotation is RIGHT NOW!

The school won’t budge and state that my son will continue to
come to the nurse’s office for his shots, but he may test himself in the
classroom. Further more, failure to comply will result
in disciplinary action being taken against him. I asked, no less than 6 times
over a 45 day period, for this law, this state of the laws of New Jersey, to be supplied to me. BY LAW THEY HAD 10
DAYS TO DO SO.

At our final meeting with the principal, he said
he
didn’t know I was requesting the law (which bound my son to their
unlawful medical plan), which was another lie by the administration,
since several of the 6 emails
and calls were directly to him, plus a hand written letter. Then the school lawyer, schwartz, simon, edelstien & kessler sent me an 80+ page guide
book, not a law. As a matter of fact, he sent it to me 5 different times by a variety
of mailing methods and he probably charged the school every time his office did
so.

By this time, a new medical plan was submitted by
us, since
the one on file was based on lies, laws that don’t exist and
‘guidelines’ that
say just the opposite of what we were told by them. I was gave it
directly to the school
nurse, who along with the students parents, the student and the
students Dr.,
are responsible for making up the medical plan. This too is a law. This
law says NOTHING about the school administrators getting a say in it,
yet that is who the nurse sent the plan to.
It was never seen again nor commented upon by the administration
despite repeated
requests for its signing.

They are now in full CYA mode.


They know that their policy
is decades old and has ignored every law that pertains to disabled students
that has come out since the late 1980’s. That would be the Americans with
Disabilities Act mainly, but several other laws and court decisions also would
have mandated the Board of Education make some changes throughout the years, but they didn't. I
called high school after high school and 95% of them have kids coming
to office not only for blood checks and insulin, but they keep the
emergency epi pens there too!!!

As a confirmation of
this, when I called into the 1-800-Child Abuse hot line about the 11 child abuse
laws the school was breaking (also at the end of this letter), it took not the mandated 24 hours for them to get
back to me, but 4 days. Four days of meetings with supervisors and lawyers. The
final consensus???? What the school was doing didn’t quite meet the threshold
of child abuse ( wait this gets good). This was phoned in to me on a phone number that I have called
day and night 24-7 without anyone ever picking it up. I wonder, since ALL
conversations are recorded, if this phone was one that DOES NOT record. But if
what they were saying was true, why was the final sentence,” and it would open
up too many schools to liability”. How would there be liability if there was
nothing wrong being done? With this question in mind ( this is where it gets better), I called the same number I
first called to report child abuse, except this time, in every sentence that
the school would have been mentioned as the perpetrator; I inserted my own name
as the abuser. The dad. Doing what the school was actually doing. Two DYFS employees were at my door before 10A.M. the next
morning to investigate me for “child abuse” and i hadn't called it in until about 1a.m.. I guess there are 2 different
parameters they go by; one for parents, the other for school officials who
‘know’ people. WAIT, IT GETS EVEN BETTER!

WHEN A NEW INVESTIGATION BY INSTITUTIONAL DYFS
AGAINST THE
NURSE, Ms. KOWAL, FOR REFUSING TO ALLOW MY SON TO GIVE HIMSELF A SHOT
WHEN HE WALKED INTO
HER OFFICE WITH A 298 GLUCOSE COUNT IS ‘COMPLETED’ AND SHE IS
EXONERATED. THE NURSE DECIDES TO GIVE HIM WATER INSTEAD OF ALLOWING HIM
TO MEDICATE HIMSELF AS PER HEALTH PLAN, BECAUSE, “THAT SEEMS TO HELP MY
OTHER DIABETICS” ACCORDING TO HER.
THIS IS NOWHERE IN HIS MEDICAL PLAN! I DID BOTHER TO LOOK UP THE
'WATER TREATMENT', LIKE EVERY
OTHER LIE I HAVE THROWN AT ME BY THEM, I FIND THAT TEA WAS
TESTED ON
TYPE 2 DIABETIC RATS AND SEEMED TO LOWER THEIR BLOOD SUGARS A LITTLE
BIT. MY
KID IS NOT A LAB RAT FOR THE NURSE TO TEST OUT THEORY ON AND HE IS NOT
A TYPE 2 DIABETIC, WHICH IS TREATED IN AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT WAY THAN
TYPE 1.

HIS BLOOD SUGAR
CLIMBED TO 490 AS SHE SAT WITH HER WATER THERAPY AND REFUSED HIS REPEATED
REQUESTS TO GIVE HIM SELF A SHOT. DIABETICS CAN COMA IN THAT GLUCOSE AREA.

THIS
WAS 'INVESTIGATED' AND CASE CLOSED WITHOUT THE INVESTIGATOR EVER TALKING TO ME.

HE SAID HE LEFT MESSAGES ON MY VOICE MAIL, WHICH I WOULD HAVE BELIEVED HE MAY HAVE DONE......................
EXCEPT I DON’T HAVE VOICE MAIL AS A FEATURE ON MY PHONE, AND YES, HE DID HAVE
THE CORRECT PHONE NUMBER.

THE NURSE DID THIS
TO MY SON AFTER GOING TO THE PRINCIPALS OFFICE AND COMING BACK TO HER OFFICE.


SHE FLAT OUT REFUSED TO ALLOW HIM AN INSULIN SHOT AND CONTINUED WITH THE NON-PRESCRIBED AND USELESS WATER BOARDING.
I WAS ANGERED BEYOND WORDS BY
THIS PURPOSEFUL ACT OF MEDICAL AND PHYSICAL CHILD ABUSE BEING COMMITTED BY A
SCHOOL NURSE FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF CREATING A SITUATION WHERE MY SONS DR.
COULD BE CALLED BY THE SCHOOL..

SHE
CREATED AN EMERGENCY SITUATION SO THE EMERGENCY NUMBER COULD BE CALLED. NOT MY
NUMBER. NOT MY WIFE'S NUMBER, BUT THE DRS. NUMBER. WHY?? SO THEY COULD REQUEST A
LETTER FROM HIM STATING THAT MY SON ONLY NEEDS 1 SHOT PER DAY BEFORE LUNCH AND
NO OTHERS, REGARDLESS OF THE FACT THAT THERE IS A CHART IN HIS MEDICAL PLAN
OUTLINING THE AMOUNT OF INSULIN TO BE INJECTED PER GLUCOSE COUNT ABOVE 100 AND
THAT HE SHOULD,’CHECK HIMSELF WHENEVER HE FEELS A NEED THAT HE SHOULD DO SO,
ALONG WITH BEFORE EXERCISE AND AFTER EXERCISE AND BEFORE EATING’.

THE DR. SENT A LETTER THAT THE COMMON
PRACTICE IS TO ONLY NEED ONE SHOT AT LUNCH. MY SONS NAME WAS NOT ON
THAT LETTER BUT IT IS SPECIFICALLY ON THE OTHER LETTERS FROM THE DR.
THAT SAID, ‘IMMEDIATELY
AND WITHOUT DELAY’. THE LETTERS THAT HAVE IGNORED THE MEDICAL ADVICE
OF. THIS WATER TREATMENT AND DENIAL OF INSULIN WAS TO COVER THE SCHOOLS
CONTENTION THAT MY SONS
MEDICAL NEEDS ARE BEING COVERED AS PER HIS HEALTH PLAN.

THE REPEATEDLY LIED
ABOUT, CONCOCTED THROUGH DECEIT AND MISINFORMATION MEDICAL PLAN WE WERE FORCED
TO SIGN OVER OUR STRENUOUS OBJECTIONS.

I WENT TO SEE MY SONS DR. ABOUT THE LETTER HE SENT THEM. HE
HAD ‘SUDDENLY’ CHANGED HIS MIND ABOUT EVERYTHING HE HAD SENT THE SCHOOL
REGARDING THE SELF ADMINISTRATION BY MY SON OF HIS MEDICAL NEEDS. ‘SUDDENLY’
AFTER TALKING TO THE SCHOOL HE HAD A CHANGE OF MIND THAT HAD BEEN HIS OPINION
OF DIABETIC DISEASE CONTROL FOR YEARS. HIS REASON, AS STATED TO ME WAS, ‘I GOT
OLDER’. MY RESPONSE TO HIM*.YOU GOT OLDER A MERE 5 WEEKS AFTER SPECIFICALLY CERTIFYING
MY SONS CAPABILITIES TO HANDLE HIS OWN MEDICAL NEEDS. I FIND IT AMAZING THAT THIS SUDDEN
ONSET OF AGE COINCIDED WITH THE CALL FROM THE SCHOOL. THIS DR POST, HEAD OF ENDO AT COOPER HOSPITAL, HAS SIGNED OFF ON PROBABLY HUNDREDS OF SELF MEDICATION FORMS. FOR MY SON, HE HAS BEEN DOING SO
FOR YEARS. I WONDER IF THIS ALL NEW IMPORTANT,’ I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT’ HAS BEEN
PASSED ALONG TO ALL HIS SCHOOL AGE PATIENTS HE HAD PREVIOUSLY CERTIFIED AS SELF
COMPETENT IN THE HANDLING OF THEIR
DIABETES? IF NOT, THEN IT IS A SPECIFIC CHANGE FOR A SPECIFIC KID AND THE RESULT OF A
SPECIFIC SCHOOL CALLING HIM.
BY THE WAY, HIS NEW IDEA OF A MEDICAL PLAN IS NOT WHAT THE AMERICAN DIABETES ASSOCIATION CONSIDERS TO BE APPROPRIATE TREATMENT FOR A TYPE 1 DIABETIC.

WHEN THE DR. SAID TO ME THAT HE DIDN’T THINK THAT I WAS DOING THIS CONFRONTATION
WITH THE SCHOOL, 'WITH JUST MY SONS HEALTH AND EDUCATION IN MIND’ I ASKED HIM
WHAT ELSE HE THOUGHT I WAS DOING IT FOR. HE SAID THAT WASN’T FOR HIM TO SAY. I
WONDER WHAT THE SCHOOL SAID TO HIM, OR HIS BOSS, OR SOMEONE ELSE OVER HIM. OR
WHAT THEY ‘HAVE’ ON HIM THAT MADE HIM DO A 180* TURN AROUND ON HIS LIFE'S WORK.

THE ONLY THING I HAVE BEEN INTERESTED IN FROM THE BEGINNING
IS MY SONS HEALTH AND EDUCATION. I HAVE OFFERED TO THE SCHOOL THAT I WOULD NOT
SEEK ANY LAWSUITS AGAINST THEM AND SIGN A STATEMENT STATING SUCH, IF THEY WOULD
ALLOW MY SON TO FOLLOW HIS DRS. ORDERS AND THE LAWFUL RIGHT TO SELF
PRESERVATION AND THE BEST EDUCATIONAL LEVEL HE CAN ATTAIN THAT EVERY HUMAN IN
THIS COUNTRY IS BORN WITH AND THE LAW DICTATES

EDUCATIONALLY, MY SON HAS SUFFERED AT THE SCHOOLS POLICY OF CHILD
ABUSE.


IN DECEMBER HE CAME HOME WITH HIS INTERIM REPORT CARD. HE HAD AN 'F' IN
ITALIAN AND A 'D' IN ALGEBRA. I HAD HIM IGNORE THE ILLEGAL SCHOOL POLICY AND TEST
AND MEDICATE HIMSELF IN THE CLASSROOM. HE BROUGHT THE 'F' TO AN 83 AND THE 'D' TO AN 84 IN
JUST A HALF MARKING PERIOD. HE WENT UP A TOTAL OF 38 GRADE POINTS FROM THE
PREVIOUS MARKING PERIOD. HE WENT UP IN EVERY SUBJECT EXCEPT HEALTH.

AFTER BEING INTIMIDATED BY THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION
THAT A CONTINUANCE OF HIS SELF MEDICATING IN THE CLASSROOM WOULD RESULT IN
DETENTION AND SUSPENSION, AND BECAUSE HE DIDN’T WANT TO LOSE HIS ELIGIBILITY FOR BASEBALL (HE
IS THE STARTING SECOND BASEMAN ON THE 2 TIME NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP ARSENAL BLUE
TEAM) AT CHERRY HILL WEST, WHERE HE WILL BE THE STARTING VARSITY AS A SOPHOMORE.

HE DECIDED TO COMPLY WITH THEIR DEMANDS OF FOLLOWING THE
DEBUNKED MEDICAL PLAN. THE NEXT MARKING PERIOD WHILE FOLLOWING THE MEDICAL PLAN HE WENT DOWN 33 GRADE POINTS BECAUSE
OF MISSED CLASS TIME AND HIGH, UNTREATED BLOOD SUGARS DURING CLASS TIME, WHICH AFFECT HIS CONCENTRATION AND
BEHAVIOR IN CLASS. A MALADY THAT IS EASILY CORRECTABLE WITH A SHOT TAKEN AT HIS
DESK.

AS A MATTER OF FACT, THE NEW JERSEY LAWMAKERS HAVE
PASSED A
BILL THAT WOULD ALLOW HIM TO DO JUST THAT. IT PASSED 70-3 AND IS ON THE
GOVERNORS DESK AWAITING HIS SIGNATURE. UNFORTUNATELY IT WON'T GO INTO
EFFECT UNTIL 120 DAYS AFTER THE GOV SIGNS IT.

THIS LAW CAME ABOUT BECAUSE SO MANY
SCHOOLS WERE NOT ADHERING TO THE LAWS ON THE BOOKS, BECAUSE THEY WERE SO SCATTERED
ABOUT IN VARIOUS LAWS AS TO MAKE THEM A PATCHWORK TO FOLLOW.

THIS SCHOOL
THOUGH, CHERRY HILL WEST, NEVER LOOKED FOR A REASON TO GIVE MY SON A FAIR
CHANCE AT A HEALTHY LIFE OR EDUCATION, BUT RATHER SEARCHED EVERY AVENUE THEY COULD TO
DENY HIM HIS CIVIL RIGHTS, GOD GIVEN RIGHTS AND EQUAL EDUCATION THAT THE LAW DEMANDS THEY DO,
"WITHIN ALL REASONABLE MEANS". WHAT IS UNREASONABLE ABOUT A SIMPLE SHOT AT A DESK
TO ACHIEVE THIS END?

I wondered why an administration would do this to a kid.
Then I was told about the solitary confinement rooms they were sticking
Autistic into, complete with padded walls, strap down restraints and a single light bulb
above. The parents of the Autistic kids were never told about these rooms. A
woman who had an Autistic child walked by one that was open and took some cell
phone pictures of it, the only thing she couldn’t capture was the stale smell
of urine that permeated it. The administration at first said,” you know we
wouldn’t do anything that’s bad for our students”. Then they said the room
were never used, then that they were used only once, then that they were used
more than once when evidence came out that they were lying about its usage. Then a second room was found.

Then I found out about the new auditorium at west. It was
built with no access for disabled students to the stage. They would have to sit
in the audience area whenever their class was up on stage. After an office of
civil rights law suit (and why it had to come to a lawsuit when the law
specifically says access must be available in new construction), a lift was put
in for wheel chair bound students (at a retro fit cost that I was told was in
the $3,000,000 range) so they could join their classmates on stage. Last I heard,
the school stuck to the Office of Civil Rights finding that they had to build
the lift*they just haven’t used it yet. I guess that wasn’t specifically spelled out,
that they actually HAD to use it for the wheel chaired student. I guess that’s their collective mind set, we are
right, you are wrong and we have the power and pull to prove it.

These are not people who can be dealt with in a civil and
kinder and gentler way. They lie and they do what they want because they have the
power to do what they want without consequences for their abominable actions
against the disabled students in their charge. The students that we trust them
with because they are educators and have our kids best interest deep down in
their hearts. What hearts?

As stated before, there are specific child abuse laws the
administration continues to break on a daily bases concerning my son. They will
follow at the end of this letter.





I went
to Cherry Hill police department to file charges against the school
administrators for child abuse, specifically against, Campbell, Gallagher and
Meloche, and I was told I could NOT do so. The detectives did not even want to look
at the folder of evidence I brought with me once they heard it was against the
school administration. In refusing my request, the police ignored this law (see
the last sentence):

RULE 3:2. CONTENTS OF COMPLAINT, ARREST WARRANT AND SUMMONS


3:2-1. Contents of Complaint; Forwarding of Indictable Complaints to
Prosecutor and Criminal Division Manager

(a)
Complaint. The complaint shall be a written statement
of the essential facts constituting the offense charged made on a form approved
by the Administrative Director of the Courts. All complaints except complaints
for traffic offenses, as defined in R. 7:2-1 where made on Uniform Traffic
Tickets and complaints for non-indictable offenses made on the Special Form of
Complaint and Summons, shall be by certification or on oath before a judge or
other person authorized by N.J.S.A. 2B:12-21 to take complaints. The clerk or deputy clerk, municipal court
administrator or deputy court administrator shall accept for filing any
complaint made by any person.

The administration has banned me from school grounds and
buildings. They did so even though the parameters of their right to do so were
never crossed by me. They can ban me for causing an audible disturbance at the school
and refusing to leave when asked. Neither of those things has ever happened. They did still allow me to come to the school in
emergency situations, as long as I stopped by the main office and told them why
I was there.


I went and dropped off blood meter testing strips for my son just after
school class times had ended, along with drinks for him since he was going to an
away baseball game and had run out of test strips while at school. I dropped a
stapled collection of the things the school administration had been doing to my son
with their lies and threats on the bench in the foyer of the school as I
entered. The administration, not liking the fact that their lying and child
abuse had been brought to light, made a criminal complaint of trespassing
against me.


It seems the police have no problem working for them, since I
didn’t break any law in my actions nor did I break the illegal barring of me
from the school, having gone there for an emergency situation and telling the
secretary that my son needed his test strips before he left for the game and to
please call him down to pick them up, which she did.


A second charge was levied against me by Joe
Meloche for
putting a document in his mailbox outlining the schools abuse of my son
and
their constant lying about laws etc. except I didn’t put it in his
mailbox, I
put it in 10 copies either in peoples doors or on their steps, as that
is all the copies I had enough money to make. (My dad was a mailman, i
know it is illegal to put things in peoples mailboxes other than
U.S.MAIL). A
copy was sent to him via email already. I wouldn’t waste a good hard
copy by putting it his
mailbox. Actually, the charge is again, trespassing. I think one of his
neighbors put it in his mailbox to let him know it was going around. I
think freedom of
speech covers this, especially when there are no lies in the document
and even if I had put it in his mail box, which I am certain I did not, there is
no restraining order against me that compels me to stay away from his
house.

A third charge was made after I called the nurse on the
evening of her water boarding of my son. I called her after school hours as
I did not find out about the incident until after school had closed. The
charges say I called at an hour of the day during which time alarm would be
caused by my call. Whatever time the nurse decides to pick up her voice mails is not
within my power of control and I do not know if she heard it when she came to
work, or if she accessed her voice mail from home. THEY ARE USING A DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LAW FOR THIS CHARGE!!

I didn’t threaten her, I
told her exactly what I was going to, legally do, as it is my right to do, and
then did so. I was not looking for a
result from her. She had already done what she had done when she worked not in
the patients favor, but at and for the administrations behest, a direct contradiction of the
school nurse guidelines. She had been sent these guidelines previously by me,
along with guidelines noting that doing what you are told by the
administration, rather than what’s in the best interest of the student/patient
is not a defense for doing so.

The action had already taken place and I was
responding to that action, not threatening that any similar action would result
in my following up with legal complaints, but that this specific action was
going to be followed up with such complaints. Is it illegal to tell someone that you are
filling legal charges against them, or a law suit against them for their irresponsible and/or illegal
actions? Can they only find out from official sources when a subpoena is issued
to them in the mail?

So now I have 3 charges against me, all during a
time in
which a Federal Department of Education Office of Civil Rights lawsuit
was
pending against the school and my son has several dicsiplanary actions
and threats against him while he is the subject and I am the advocate
of that lawsuit on my minor sons
behalf. As such, and this is a direct quote from the Office of Civil
rights
letter to the school and myself:

Prohibition Against Intimidation or
Retaliation




An institution under the jurisdiction
of the Department of Education may not intimidate, threaten, coerce, or
retaliate against anyone who ASSERTS a right protected by the civil rights laws
that OCR enforces, or who cooperates in an investigation. Anyone who believes
that he or she has been intimidated or retaliated against should file a
complaint with OCR.



I am filing another complaint with the
OCR and I have 180 days in which to do so. Or is saying that considered to be
with the intent to cause alarm? Actually, I think it just a statement of fact.


Did I send emails to my sons
guidance counselor, his teachers and his coaches with all the information I
knew? Yes. Why? Because they always say
to let the teachers etc know what is going on in the student’s life that may affect
his class work.
I think the fact that the administrators lied every step of the
way, refused to allow him his rights to a healthy life and equal education and
how he, my son, must be feeling about the authority figures of his school, and
rightfully so, would effect his classroom behavior and/or attitude towards
those in authority. I offered, from almost the very beginning, to delete any
teachers email address that did not want to receive emails from me concerning
these circumstances surrounding my son. A Mr. Herman asked to be taken off and
I did so. My last mail to him only acknowledged that I had removed him from the list.

Upon a second offering of the same deletion from the email list, a Ms.. Powelson
asked to keep the emails to specific class items. Which I did, until my son was
charged by her for acting up in class and she did not attend the meeting with
Meloche, Gallagher myself and my son to find out whether she had asked him to
test his blood sugar, as I had given all his teachers permission to do in an
earlier email, in order to make sure it wasn’t a disability related action on his part. The law at
that time was the school had to prove it was not disability related. The school
has since made a change in that policy without a public hearing. Don’t you just
love closed door decisions? By the way, Ms. Powelson never answered me, but
neither did the school administration who said they would talk to her privately
without my being allowed to be there when they did.

I have every bit of paper and email
sent both to and from the school and any other agency noted confirming
everything in the content of this letter, and more.

Just
one or two more items. There are at least 4 kids in my sons school who
use insulin pumps. These pumps administer insulin 24-7 and little beeps
go off if your blood sugar goes up and then the meter adjusts to a new
amount of insulin flow. Does the nurse follow these kids around all day
during school? or are they getting to medicate unsupervised while my
son MUST LEAVE CLASS FOR A SHOT. And as far as his having to have a
nurse present AS THEY DEMAND...well, not at practice, not in detention
and not on school trips either. HOW VERY SELECTIVE OF THEM. The weekly
list of shots and blood counts from pre lunch time we are supposed to
get from the nurse...NEVER HAPPENE;NOT EVEN ONCE! The
training of people who would be in contact with my son on a regular
basis (including his bus driver) for spotting the onsets of high and
low blood sugars..NEVER HAPPENED.

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Permalink Reply by trivigino edward on August 23, 2009 at 12:57pm

SIGN IT AND SIGN IT RIGHT NOW. I AM SICK OF THE JOB SECURITY NURSES ASSOCIATION RIDICULOUS OPPOSITION TO THIS BILL. IT ISNT ABOUT NURSES, IT IS ABOUT THE RIGHTS OF STUDENTS TO EVERYTHING A SCHOOL HAS TO OFFER.

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Permalink Reply by trivigino edward on August 23, 2009 at 1:04pm

RE: A267

Governor Jon Corzine
P.O. Box 001
Trenton, NJ 08625

Dear Governor Corzine:

Cherry Hill (REDACTED ASSOCIATION NAME) is aware that you are in the process of considering A267, which would authorize a parent or guardian to request the use of an individualized health care plan for a student with diabetes and provides for the emergency administration of glucagon for certain students. We request that you sign this bill into law without delay.

A267 follows the guidelines set forth by the American Diabetes Associations which indicates, “At its core, effective school-based diabetes management requires three things:
1. All school staff members who have responsibility for a student with diabetes should receive training that provides a basic understanding of the disease and know who to contact in an emergency.
2. A small group of school staff members should receive training from a qualified health care professional such as a physician or a nurse, in student-specific routine and emergency care. This is done so that a staff member is always available for younger or less-experienced students who require assistance with their diabetes management (e.g., administering insulin, checking their blood glucose, or choosing an appropriate snack) and for all students with diabetes in case of an emergency (including administration of glucagon) when a school nurse is absent or otherwise unavailable.

3. Those students who are capable of doing so should be permitted to self-manage their diabetes in the classroom and during all school activities.”

A student’s ability to attend to his schoolwork is dramatically effected by incidents of hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia, and therefore it affects his ability to succeed academically. A student may need to test his blood sugar levels and administer insulin several times a day. Requiring a student to leave the educational setting several times a day to address these health care matters discriminates against the student’s right to an appropriate education. However, that is only the educational insult that is being done to students with diabetes. Requiring students to wait for a nurse to arrive or go to the nurse’s office delays critical medical treatment and unnecessarily puts students at risk of short and long term consequences including coma, heart disease, blindness, kidney transplant, and amputations. A high school student with diabetes is acutely aware of the potential risks of diabetes and having one wait to receive delayed treatment is emotionally detrimental. Finally, having a nurse enter the class setting to tend to the student’s needs places a social stigma on a student that can be psychologically traumatizing during the adolescent years.

In Cherry Hill, one particular student has been administering his own blood sugar tests and insulin since he was eleven. He attended to his diabetic needs in a fashion consistent with the proposed protocols in A267 throughout middle school. Now that he is in high school, the student has been told that the school nurse must administer his insulin. What a pity that a student who has self-administered thousands of blood tests and insulin injections now needs to waste his valuable educational time leaving class, walking to the nurse, waiting for treatment, and going back to class, if it is even still in session. He must leave class to handle something he could very discretely handle right in the classroom. His other option is to sit and wait for the nurse to arrive at the classroom. While this is simply not an option due to the student’s sense of dignity, imagine the disruption to education this would cause the entire class.

The student mentioned above chose to ignore the school’s directive for a period of time and saw his grades go up 38 points. He later went back to adhering to the rules, and his grades declined 33 points to the level of C’s and D’s. As an A student who dropped down to being a C/D student, he suffered from poor self-esteem. If there are other juniors or seniors experiencing the same problems, they will have less appeal to colleges due to their lowered grades and are less likely to earn scholarships.

As you may know, NJ School Nurses Association opposes A267 because they believe only a nurse is qualified to administer glucagon. Glucagon is administered when a diabetic experiences a hypoglycemic coma due to severe hypoglycemia and cannot orally consume glucose. We understand and respect their position. However, A267 indicates that glucagon is to be administered by a trained volunteer “when a school nurse is not physically present at the scene.” The bill does acknowledge, “The school nurse shall have the primary responsibility for the emergency administration of glucagon to a student with diabetes who is experiencing severe hypoglycemia.” At the juncture in which there is a student in a hypoglycemic coma and no nurse is present, we feel that the only alternative is to have a voluntarily trained layperson available to assist the student. Additionally the other provisions outlined in A267 are going to enable many students to treat themselves, and therefore avoid unnecessary emergencies such as a hypoglycemic coma.


We support the passage of A267 and hope that you will also. Please act quickly as the bill will not take effect for 120 days after signing. Valuable educational opportunities are being wasted while capable diabetic students must seek medical treatment from the school nurse rather than help themselves. Typically there is no nurse in a diabetic’s home, at the mall, or the numerous other venues frequented. When a diabetic student goes to college or into the working world, he/she will be required to address his/her health care needs. Why not support their independence and education a bit earlier when the parents and physician agree that the student is ready? Provide this support by signing into law A267.

Thank you for your consideration.

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Permalink Reply by trivigino edward on August 23, 2009 at 1:28pm

this is the only school i could find in NEW JERSEY that actually has the students interests at heart.

LIVINGSTON BOARD OF EDUCATION
LIVINGSTON, NEW JERSEY
MANDATED
PUPILS
ADMINISTRATION OF MEDICATION
POLICY #5330
The Board of Education disclaims any and all responsibility for the diagnosis and treatment of the illness of any pupil. However, in order for many pupils with chronic health conditions and disabilities to remain in school, medication may have to be administered during school hours. Parents and legal guardians are encouraged to administer medications to children at home whenever possible as medication should be administered in school only when necessary for the health and safety of pupils. The Board will permit the administration of medication in school in accordance with applicable law.
Medication will only be administered to pupils in school by the school physician, a certified or noncertified school nurse, a substitute school nurse employed by the district, the pupil’s parent(s) or legal guardian(s), a pupil who is approved to self-administer in accordance with N.J.S.A. 18A:40-12.3 and 12.4, and school employees who have been trained and designated by the certified school nurse to administer epinephrine in an emergency pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:40-12.5 and 12.6.
Self-administration of medication by a pupil for asthma or other potentially life-threatening illness or a life threatening allergic reaction is permitted in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 18A:40-12.3.
Medication no longer required must be promptly removed by the parent(s) or legal guardian(s).
The school nurse shall have the primary responsibility for the administration of epinephrine. However, the certified school nurse may designate, in consultation with the Board or the Superintendent, additional employees of the district who volunteer to be trained in the administration of epinephrine via a pre-filled auto-injector mechanism using standardized training protocols established by the Department of Education in consultation with the Department of Health and Senior Services when the school nurse is not physically present at the scene.
The school nurse or designee shall be promptly available on site at the school and at school-sponsored functions in the event of an allergic reaction. In addition, the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) must be informed that the school district, its employees and agents shall have no liability as a result of any injury arising from the administration of epinephrine to the pupil.
The parent(s) or legal guardian(s) of the pupil must sign a statement acknowledging their understanding the district shall have no liability as a result of any injury arising from the administration of the epinephrine via a pre-filled auto-injector mechanism to the pupil and the parent(s) or legal guardian(s) shall indemnify and hold harmless the district and its employees or agents against any claims arising out of the administration of the epinephrine via a pre-filled auto-injector mechanism to the pupil. Page 1 of 2
The permission for the emergency administration of epinephrine via a pre-filled auto-injector mechanism containing epinephrine to pupils for anaphylaxis is effective for the school year it is granted and must be renewed for each subsequent school year.
Each school in the district shall have and maintain for the use of pupils at least one nebulizer in the office of the school nurse or a similar accessible location. Each certified school nurse or other persons authorized to administer asthma medication will receive training in airway management and in the use of nebulizers and inhalers consistent with State Department of Education regulations. Every pupil that is authorized to use self-administered asthma medication pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:40-12.3 or a nebulizer must have an asthma treatment plan prepared by the pupil’s physician which shall identify, at a minimum, asthma triggers, the treatment plan and other such elements as required by the State Board of Education.
All pupil medications shall be appropriately maintained and secured by the school nurse, except those medications to be self-administered by pupils. In those instances the medication may be retained by the pupil with the prior knowledge of the school nurse. The school nurse may provide the Principal and other teaching staff members concerned with the pupil’s educational progress with such information about the medication and its administration as may be in the pupil’s best educational interests. The school nurse may report to the school physician any pupil who appears to be affected adversely by the administration of medication and may recommend to the Principal the pupil’s exclusion pursuant to law.
The school nurse shall document each instance of the administration of medication to a pupil. Pupils self-administering medication shall report each incident to a teacher, coach or other individual designated by the school nurse who is supervising the pupil during the school activity when the pupil self-administers. These designated individuals shall report such incidents to the school nurse within twenty-four hours of the self-administration of medication. The school nurse shall preserve records and documentation regarding the self-administration of medication in the pupil’s health file.
N.J.S.A. 18A:6-1.1; 18A:40-3.1; 18A:40-6; 18A:40-7; 18A:40-12.3; 18A:40-12.4;
18A:40-12.5; 18A:40-12.6; 18A:40-12.7; 18A:40-12.8
N.J.S.A. 45:11-23
N.J.A.C. 6A:16-2.3(b)
ADOPTED: 14 January 2008

THANK THEM FOR SETTING A NEW STANDARD

Chuck Granata
Mr. Chuck Granata
President
Email: cgranata@livingston.org


Tony Calcado
Mr. Tony Calcado
Member
Email: acalcado@livingston.org


Sheri Goldberg
Mrs. Sheri Goldberg
Member
Email: sgoldberg@livingston.org

Stan Graboski
Mr. Stan Graboski
Member
Email: sgraboski@livingston.org


Bonnie Granatir
Mrs. Bonnie Granatir
Vice President
Email: bgranatir@livingston.org

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Permalink Reply by trivigino edward on August 23, 2009 at 2:14pm

'A student needing glucagon may be unconscious, a dosage decision is needed, the procedure requires some skill and medical judgment is involved'

SIMPLY PUT, WTF IS THAT?

and that testing blood glucose in the classroom part.... new jersey dept of education task force on diabetes in the classroom already says test in the classroom for those certified to be able to do so, and that's from 1999 or so. the OSHA blood born pathogens schools use to force kids to go to the nurse is b.s.. OSHA is ONLY for employees and even if it wasn't, it has a clause and cites diabetics as an example of employees self testing allow ability.

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