This is definitely a local policy. Unfortunately schools here seem to be following the lead of American schools for levels of craziness. I also believe that it is illegal for schools to hold on to inhalers for just this reason.

Rather than try and get a law passed I would have gone to the principles house and shot his kid in front of them.

Sounds harsh I know, but until people start feeling the pain of their asinine zero tolerance policies blow back on them nothing will change. $20 bucks says no shools admin offical was even repremanded

I would have filed criminal charges against the principal for theft of prescription drugs. Send an anonymous tip to the DEA.

I have run in to this at my daughters school... thank god my ex Mother in law actually works at the school so this is not an issue. If my ex wasnt such a horrible person she would be home schooled as my other children probably will be.

Here's to hoping the school is insured

Every time I hear these stories, I wipe my brow and thank First Cause that our school district is rational and sane. The Kid has a peanut allergy, and needs a Epi-Pen in case of the worst. The school has every year said "Why doesn't she just carry it in her bag?", to which I always double check "Are you sure that's not going to get us or you guys in trouble?"

My son needed antibiotics. In order to have them during the day at school they wanted a signed note from the doctor. This was for prescription medicine in the original container from the pharmacy.

Now, I'm kinda thinking that the pharmacy had to get something more stringent (like an actual prescription from the prescribing doctor). I could understand a doctor's note for, say, above-standard dosage of over the counter meds, but the whole thing about prescription drugs is that they REQUIRE a doctor's authorization. So, why does the doctor have to authorize it twice? Also, many doctors are starting to charge for every school form they fill out - physical, medication, etc.

Every person at that school who had sat in that locked office and watched him die would be dead. Lock me up for the rest of my life after, sure, but they're dying first. If I ever encountered this at school (the can't-keep-rescue-meds-with-them thing, not the dead kid thing) I'd homeschool starting that second.

You'll get my asthma inhaler only when you pry it from my cold dead fingers.

Wait, that is just the opposite of what they would prefer - give the kid his life-saver AFTER he is dead.

As one who has asthma I consider such folks to be killers and they should be treated as such.

In my day, teachers, coaches, etc, who knew which kids had inhalers were always making sure that the kid had it on him/her and didn't leave it somewhere. The attitude was if you don't have it on you then it can't help you - keep it with you at all times. Now, the attitude is WE know what's best so WE need to control everything; and, apparently, that includes your right to breathe.

Just checked district policy, my school nurse and with some of my kids. If your meds are prescription and are not a “rescue” type i.e. Inhaler or epi-pen, you need to bring a doctor’s note with instructions and keep it in the clinic unless you get an “independent note” from the doctor. The rational is to keep kids from selling, trading pills. I imagine it works for the kids that would not do that anyway. If it is a rescue type, let the clinic know and if you want they will store extras so your kid is not without. This also allows the clinic to access community assistance for kids that may have trouble getting the stuff they need, my nurse was real proud of that, her quote was “mom can’t afford a new inhaler, I can get one”.

My advice if your kid needs medication of ANY sort, demand the school write a 504 to accommodate it, it is part of the ADA and while a 504 is not as time consuming as an IEP it is more flexible and geared to making sure a student gets what they need.

Need to add, this may be more of a cultural thing, we here in Northern Nevada are a bit more liberal...in the classic sense

The oddness is... if the inhaler is locked up with the nurse or whatever, then the school is taking responsibility for the child's health.

so if the kid dies, criminal negligence, plus regular lawsuits.

We always had this argument with the district, and so I went in with the school nurse and browbeat the principal and the office staff to sit in on the school nurse demo of how and when to use an epi-pen... and then I told them in graphic detail exactly what it feels like to go in to Anaphylaxis, since I have personal experience.

"Because of your district's policy, you will be taking personal responsibility for this." The Principal looked kind of pale after that, but they were hyper about getting this right... and after that, discovered that my kid wasn't the only one...

In any case... I had an inhaler with me when I was a kid[remember bronkaid mist? tasted terrible], and all the teachers knew about it...

But what happens when the school no longer has a full time nurse? Are they really sure they want to take full responsibility for this?

I still don't get how this isn't Involuntary Manslaughter due to it being a death caused by negligence.

SwissArmyD - yuck, I do remember that taste of Bronkaid Mist - just plain yuck!

And, so many of the "educators" seem to be missing the point - seconds, (I'll scream that SECONDS) count whan someone is having an asthma attack. There may not be minutes to get the nurse or whomever to go retrieve the medicine.

We just had a case, here in my town, in which a 16-year old died from an asthma attack. It didn't happen at school, rather it happened at home. Apparently his rescue inhaler wasn't doing the trick and his mother waited too long to call 911. I'm sure that mother is beating herself up over the incident.

What will happen if the school officials take several minutes to get the kid his/her inhaler, only to find that it isn't working for that current asthma attack? Are they now going to waste more time calling 911 and waiting for emergency folks to respond?

Here's a newsflash for those educators - no one can NOT breathe for 5 or 10 minutes without dying or, in the very least, suffering brain damage.

That's a terrible idea luj and I cannot condone that, but if you need a safe house, a change of clothes and someone to drive you to the border, well let me know.

(regardless, I have to remind you that the principal is your pal. p a l)

This is what happens when you put bureaucrats in charge. Rules mean more than results to a bureaucrat.

"Yes, the town burned down as a result of our inaction. But we didn't break any rules."

As we surrender more control over our lives to government bureaucrats, expect more of this nonsense.

I still don't get how this isn't Involuntary Manslaughter due to it being a death caused by negligence.

Because they were following a policy, ostensibly initiated by the behest of the local parents whipped up on 'drug frenzy' paranoia, and as no one IN-DEE-VID-U-AL was personally responsible it wouldnt be "fair" to hold one person accountable.

Although I hate to recommend a lawsuit in our current environment of 'jackpot' style awards, I agree that nothing will change until the school loses $20 million. This would be a particularly sympathetic example: inaction that directly lead to the death of a child.

Two words:

Home. School.

"When your daughter is at school," Principal Baker said, "I am the ultimate authority concerning her health."

I would pursue this wide-open-throttle until this preening egomaniac is removed from their position for working outside of practice (pretending to be qualified to serve as a physician?) as well as violating school policy. My child has specialists for a reason, and I don't authorize anyone else to make medical decisions.

I would pursue this wide-open-throttle until this preening egomaniac is removed from their position for working outside of practice (pretending to be qualified to serve as a physician?) as well as violating school policy. My child has specialists for a reason, and I don't authorize anyone else to make medical decisions. -- Juliana at December 14, 2013 2:31 PM

The problem is that leberals think they are gods and every decision they make dictates reality.

The problem is that leberals think they are gods and every decision they make dictates reality.

Posted by: Jim P. at December 14, 2013 7:02 PM
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And what makes you think there are no conservatives who support "zero tolerance" policies, just as they (almost) did in 1937 when they made "possession or transfer of cannabis illegal throughout the United States under federal law, excluding medical and industrial uses"?

Imagine how many billions of dollars could have been saved - and gained - had they treated it like alcohol, which had been re-admitted years earlier!

And what makes you think there are no conservatives who support "zero tolerance" policies, just as they (almost) did in 1937 when they made "possession or transfer of cannabis illegal throughout the United States under federal law, excluding medical and industrial uses"? -- lenona at December 15, 2013 1:30 PM

I know that Reagan started the failed "War on Drugs". But somehow schools, for the large majority, are run by liberal leaning types. So I just have a tendency to blame the liberals for the Zero Intelligence Policies. Just like banning NRA t-shirts.