Below you will find a copy of the letter sent home to parents of children in designated food allergy classrooms:

This letter is to inform you that a student in your child’s class has a severe food allergy to peanuts/nuts. As you may already know, food allergies are a growing issue among today’s children. In fact, it is now estimated that over three million children in the United States have significant food allergies. In many cases, these food allergies are life threatening. What’s more, it only takes a minuscule amount of food to cause the reaction. In the case of peanuts, it has been demonstrated that as little as 1/10,000 of a teaspoon of peanut or peanut butter can cause a fatal food reaction.

Our classrooms need to be safe, friendly, healthy places to learn and grow for all of our children. With that in mind, your compliance with our new guideline is imperative. Please consult our new guidelines and contact your school nurse with any questions or concerns. We look forward to helping in any way we can. Thank you!

Sincerely,

School Nurses

Specific Guidelines

• Please do not send in any peanuts, peanut butter or foods containing peanuts to be eaten as snacks in the classrooms that have been identified as peanut free.
• Please alert teachers a few days ahead of any celebrations that involve food so that the food-allergic child may provide his/her own safe treat.
• Please do not enclose any candy or food treats with holiday cards.
• Please do not send in any classroom projects that involve peanut butter or peanut shells.
• Please advise your children to wash their hands if they have eaten peanut butter for breakfast. We will encourage hand washing after lunch as well.

GENERAL HEALTHROOM GUIDELINES

School Nurses
Barrie Somerfield, RN
Holly Pritchett, RN

Both buildings of HWES are staffed with a full time nurse. The nurses may be reached by phone, fax or e-mail during normal school hours.

Phone- 410-638-4175
Wakefield
Fax- 410-638-4319

Homestead
Fax – 410-639-4317

MEDICATION PROCEDURES:All medications should be given to students at home whenever possible. However, if it is necessary for a student to receive mediation while in school, the following procedure must be adhered to for both prescription medications and over-the-counter medications such as aspirin, Tylenol, cold and allergy medications and medicated lotions or creams.

• A complete written physician order must be provided to the school (orders may be faxed).
• The parent/guardian must give written permission to administer any medication.
• The medication must be in the original labeled contained and include the student’s name, name of medication, physician’s name, date, dose and directions for administration.
• A student is NOT permitted to transport or have any medication in his possession unless self-carry permission is granted through the office of Health Services.
• A copy of the medication policy and administration form (PS-H14) is available to download from the HWES website.

WHEN TO KEEP AN SICK CHILD HOME FROM SCHOOL: Although it may seem obvious, children should not go to school when they may be contagious to others or when they are too sick to learn. As a general rule, students should stay home if they have:

• Fever over 100 degrees. Children should be fever free for 24 hours without medication.
• Vomiting/Diarrhea. Children should remain home until they have stopped having vomiting or diarrhea for 24 hours.
• Strep throat. Students should be under treatment for 24 hours.
• Eye Infections. Students should seek medical care if their eyes are red, itchy or have drainage.
• Suspected skin infections or lice which may be contagious. Children with suspected chicken pox, scabies, ringworm etc. should seek medical attention before returning to school.

FOOD ALLERGIES: HWES follows the recommendations of the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network and strives to keep each student safe. Copies of the allergy guidelines for the school and for classrooms with food allergic students are sent home at the beginning of each school year and are also available on the HWES website.

VISION AND HEARING SCREENING: Vision and hearing screening is completed on all PreK, K and 3rd and 5th grade students, as well as students new to Harford County Public Schools. Teachers and parents may also refer any student who may be having difficulty with vision or hearing. If you have any concerns, please consult your school nurse.