CUMBERLAND SCHOOL DEPARTMENT
Peanut/Tree Nut and Severe Allergy Procedure
Rationale: The following procedure has been developed so that all schools in the Cumberland School Department will follow consistent procedures in managing student needs related to peanut/tree nut allergies and includes provisions for severe allergies that require the use of Epipens. This procedure is developed as a supplement to the Cumberland School Committee’s Policy J-14 Food Allergy
Elementary Grades
Signage
• Signs will be posted at each entrance to the school building that there are peanut/tree nut allergic students.
• Signs will be at the entrance to each peanut/tree nut free classroom.
Letter
• A consistent letter outlining pertinent peanut/tree nut procedures, but modified to fit individual elementary schools will be sent home at the beginning of each school year.
• All classrooms will be designated as peanut/tree nut free rooms as student classroom placement letters are sent to families.
• Parents/guardians of severely allergic students who have allergies to other foods or substances may request a letter alerting other families of the allergy.
• A reminder letter will be sent to families regarding peanut/tree nut free classrooms with report cards and as necessary. Reminder letters will also be sent to those families who have previously requested alert letters for children with severe allergies.
Classrooms
• All classrooms will be peanut/tree nut free.
A peanut/tree nut free classroom is defined as a classroom with no foods containing peanut or nut products that may be consumed or opened beyond the threshold of the classroom.
• No individual peanut/tree nut snacks are allowed to be opened in peanut/tree nut free classrooms.
• Inadvertent peanut/tree nut snacks and other food items sent to school must be eaten in the cafeteria during lunchtime.
• Any group snack sent in must be commercially prepared and labeled.
• Lunches containing peanut/tree nut products must be kept inside lunch containers/plastic bags and not opened inside the classroom.
Cafeteria
• Each elementary school will have a peanut/tree nut free table(s) and a peanut butter table(s) in the cafeteria. Any student with food containing overt peanut product ingredients (ie: peanut butter sandwiches or crackers) will sit at the peanut butter table.
School Nurse Teachers will provide student information to school lunch monitors who will be responsible for ensuring that students sit at the appropriate designated table.
If a student with severe food allergy requires an accommodation for lunchroom table assignment, a parent/guardian may request that a student be seated at the peanut/tree nut free lunch table
• Any parent of a student with a peanut/tree nut allergy may have his/her child exempt from sitting at the peanut/nut free table by submitting a Cumberland School Department waiver signed by the parent and the student’s health care provider.
• All children who eat peanut butter for lunch will use a commercial hand wipe to clean hands after lunch.
• Cumberland Food Service has established standardized procedures for sanitizing lunch tables for peanut residue for all schools that will include use sanitizer spray bottle with disposable paper towel after each lunch period.
• No peanut/tree nut products will be sold during the school day.
Paperwork
• Each year, during the month of June, the school nurse teacher will send home paperwork containing an Emergency Health Plan, Individual Health Plan and the waiver exemption for the peanut free table (if applicable) for all students requiring an Epipen for severe allergies. This paperwork will be completed and signed by both the health care provider and parent and returned on the first day of school to the school nurse teacher for review and implementation.
The school nurse teacher will also sign this document.
• If a child develops a severe allergy during the school year, paperwork will also be generated with the Individual Health Care Plan and Emergency Care Plan and classroom accommodations will be made as needed.
• A copy of this Peanut/Tree Nut and Severe Allergy Procedure will be placed in each classroom teacher’s substitute folder. Any student who is allergic to peanut/tree nut products or who has any other severe food allergy with an Epipen will be noted.
Education at All Grade Levels
Faculty and Staff
• At the beginning of each school year and as needed, the school nurse teacher in each school building will provide in-service education on food allergy, prevention strategies for anaphylaxis, anaphylaxis, and the use of Epipens.
Bus Monitors
• As required by state law, before the beginning of every school year, the Nursing Coordinator will provide education on anaphylaxis and the use of Epipens to bus monitors employed by the Cumberland School Department.
November 8, 2012
February 14, 2013
September 10, 2014