Am I over-reacting?

You are not overreacting. I would get a 504 if I were you, so that the school will be required by law to keep him safe. It is against the law for the school to kick him out due to a disability. Without a 504, you will always be at their mercy to do the right thing and keep your son safe. With a 504, you will able to clearly spell out what they must do to keep your son safe and the school will be required by law to do it. My dd is in 6th grade and has had a 504 since kindergarten. It made everything very clear what the school had to do.

Well, as my old allergist just informed me today, my son will not have an anaphylaxic reaction from contact to pb.....

with that said, I got our new allergist to write my letter for his 504...so I would also(like carefulmom) suggest doing so as well. My school doesn't take me seriously, so this is what it's going to take for them to!!

I can see where others(non-pa parents) would think that situation(with your son) was no big deal, but then the *what-ifs* come into play....what if the other boys hands smacked your son in the mouth...most likely if *wouldn't* happen, but it could....that's what's scary! Good luck!!

EDIT...I was thinking of this...why the heck do they let kids wrestle and mess around in the lunchroom, of all places?? Can't they wash their hands and go mess around, horse-play on the playground?? Do they have helpers in the lunchroom so that doesn't happen?? Does your son usually sit around kids eating pb as well(no peanut-free table??)?? That would freak me out(out of my comfort zone) so I would have issues with that alone. Usually when I confront the school with a problem, I try to have a solutions or a few ideas to offer...not sure what you could offer here. But I would have been upset if this were my son.
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Chanda(mother of 4)
Sidney-8 (beef and chocolate, grasses, molds, weeds, guinea pig & asthma)
Jake-6 (peanut, all tree nuts, eggs, trees, grasses, weeds, molds, cats, dogs, guinea pig & eczema & asthma)
Carson-3 1/2 (milk, soy, egg, beef and pork, cats, dog, guinea pig and EE)
Savannah-1 (milk and egg)

[This message has been edited by chanda4 (edited March 08, 2007).]

Yes, exactly...it's the "what if" that bothers me. The worst case senerio did not happen this time but lets keep it that way...right?
When I went up to the principle, his teacher and his last year's teacher tonight and informed them that his after school teacher told him it was "ok" to sit with the other kids, his teacher from last year said "well, there wasn't peanut butter on his hands..." Apparently this got her a look from me because it was followed by "I know, the oil is bad too"
As for a 504, private schools don't do them do they?
I pay big bucks to keep him in this private school where the class size is only 10. He has had the same kids in his class for the last 3 years and THEY all know not to eat peanuts around him and to wash well after they eat them.
The deal we had was that my son brings ALL his drinks and food from home. They are not to give him ANYTHING with out calling first. This works well. When they have peanut butter, he is to sit at another table and the kids are to wash their hands afterwards.
Today, this did not happen.
And as you said it is the "what if's" that cause me concern.
The principle's little boy is in my son's class and I am VERY tempted to ask her how she would feel if someone rubbed rat poison on his arms and chest. Maybe she would see my point then.

Is this a religious school? Private schools (except religious schools) are still subject to the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act). That means they cannot "kick him out" of the school because of his allergies.

Cathy

I am pretty sure that you can get a 504 if they receive federal funding. I am not positive, though, as I put my dd in public due to the food allergies, so that I could get a 504. The laws seem less clear cut for private. I agree with Momcat that the non-religious private ones (even without federal funding) are subject to ADA, as our private preschool was, but if there is no federal funding I don`t think you can get a formal 504 drawn up. I would not send my dd to a school without one. Our allergist suggested I send her to public instead of private, specifically because of the allergies and the need for accomodations. The laws seem so much more clear cut with public.

Quote:Originally posted by chanda4:
[b]Well, as my old allergist just informed me today, my son will not have an anaphylaxic reaction from contact to pb.....

[/b]

I do not agree with this statement from your doctor. I am not a dr, obviously, but I believe contact with PB can start an ana reaction. Examples are touch residue with fingers, fingers rub eyes, fingers go in mouth. Also, I have heard of many people having ana reactions after touching milk.

The thing is this, a reaction is a reaction. It is uncomfortable for a child to be covered in hives, itching and wheezing or whatever symptoms occur. Maybe ask the school personell to consider the following:

Having to go to the nurse during the school day is disruptive. Missed learning time and even social time at recess. It is also embarassing for some children.

Ask them to take adult dose of benadryl and see how well they function the remainder of the day or if they even can.

Ask them why rules for lunchroom are not clear to students and adults supervising lunch are not monitoring behavior.

Ask them if they are willing to take a chance that your child's hives from contacting an allergen could escalate to something more serious such as a serious asthma attack, possible anaphylaxis?

I believe that all reactions should be taken seriously. I also believe that this idea of it's just hives is dangerous in that hives can be the first sign of more symptoms to come....if hives are treated as it's just hives, if an ana reaction should follow, will they be in tune to the added symptoms? KWIM?

I feel that hives, swelling, rashes are signs.....clear signs that something isn't right. Signals your body puts out meant to be noticed. Minimizing them is wrong and very irresponsible in my opinion.

Additionally, it should be partly your child's responsibility to sit where you have made arrangements to sit. He has to also take responsiblity for his own well being. The adult supervising should have noticed him not sitting at his designated area and made a correction immediately.

[This message has been edited by saknjmom (edited March 09, 2007).]

Thanks for the comments.

As I said, this was in AFTER school. His regular teacher is really great about the "rules" and he sits at the teacher table (peanut free) when they serve pp&j 1 x a month. This is the first time that this happened in after school snack (they have PP crackers about once a month).
I've just decided that from now on whenever they have PP crackers in after school snack, I'll take off early.
I simply don't trust this girl any more. I know it's harsh, and the teachers think I'm over-reacting but better safe than sorry.

I also took the principal FAAN's school training program nomination letter and she said today that she'll go online and finish the process so they'll send it to them.

You all put your kids in PUBLIC school because of food allergies? This is exactly why I scrap up money each month to send him to private. Our lunch rooms in public school here serve PP&J much more than once a month. And the kids DON'T wash after lunch. And the poor teachers have over 20 kids to keep up with! My son's class is only 10; his daytime teacher keeps a real close eye on him.

Oh, and yes it is definately religious based.

Quote:Originally posted by donnab:
[b]You all put your kids in PUBLIC school because of food allergies? This is exactly why I scrap up money each month to send him to private. Our lunch rooms in public school here serve PP&J much more than once a month. And the kids DON'T wash after lunch. And the poor teachers have over 20 kids to keep up with! My son's class is only 10; his daytime teacher keeps a real close eye on him.

Oh, and yes it is definately religious based.[/b]

That is without a 504 though (what happens in public school). With a 504 if you ask for it, everyone washes hands, there is no food in the room, school does not serve peanut products, notes go home asking parents not to send in peanut products, school projects must be done without peanut products, and on and on. I would imagine without a 504 public school could be pretty unsafe, but our experience was that in public school they KNEW that had to accomodate the pa or lose money. Oh, and our kindergarten class had 1 teacher for every 8 kids. I had to do a little looking to find a public school with a ratio like that, but they are there.