Bake Sale - My Letter of Complaint - what are your comments?

Well worded letter, Arachide. And well timed, too - I just picked my son up and every other kid was picking up their cookie dough order. Kevin didn't seem to mind a bit, but I did! As long as it is to be consumed at home I'm not going to the mat about it. But if it was to be consumed in school, that's another story entirely.

Amy

Bonjour Arachide, long time no see [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]

You have every right to expect that the school follow it's own policy. This is just another example of how easily things can get out of hand. Does the fund raising committee/person report to the school council? It does in our school, it's the main reason why I joined. By attending the meetings I always know what they are planning in terms of fund raising.

Your letter was great and it's bound to make them think. Please let us know how they respond.

Good to see you here again.

Take care,

Katiee

Great letter and to the point. Well done.

We also have fund raising activities not in keeping with the no nuts policy at our preschool. I did speak to the director and explained I would not be asking my friends and relatives to purchase things from my child that she could not safely consume. I am afraid it would confuse them after all my efforts at teaching them safe strategies. She was very accepting and said many do not participate in all, but moreso in some versus others, and it was understandable. However, I think they need to rethink their fundraidsing activities, myself. Thus far they have included pizza kits and cookie dough, and I see a chocolate one on the horizon.

I feel I voiced my opinion, and perhaps I could just scout out other ideas and present them. I guess it is not right for me to complain without perhaps alternative suggestions.

Good for you for writing the letter. Becca

I'll be certain to give an update once I receive a reply (and I really hope I will receive one!)

Cheers,

There was a lot of news in Iowa about three years ago about spreading hepatitis with baked goods from home.

Many schools due to this no longer have baked goods and only allow commerically prepared foods.

I would suggest you call the health department and see what their recommendation is concerning other diseases that can be spread through bake sales.

NOt only is this dangerous for children w/ allergies, but I feel that schools need to stop making every activity food oriented. They wonder why children are having so many problems w/ obesity but than I notice that schools and outside groups (girl scouts etc.) all put such an emphasis on food related activities.

BTW, I loved your letter!! I hope you don't mind if I keep a copy of it handy since my son is only 2, I am sure that someday I will need to do something similiar.

[This message has been edited by robinlp (edited December 17, 2002).]

Hi all,

Actually, 2 years ago the police were called in to a local school to stop a bake sale - something about very unsanitary conditions!!

Feel free to use my letter as a model. It strokes my ego as a tech writer [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img].

I`m still awaiting a response from the school. It`s been nearly a week now and not a peep. I wonder if I`ll hear anything before the holiday break.

...(sigh)... why can`t it ever be easy?

Just an update:

I came face-to-face with the school principal this morning when I brought my son up to the door (freezing rain here this morning!). The principal looked at me, then turned to speak with another parent (the only other parent there), totally ignoring me. He knows who I am so this was a deliberate slight on his part. Obviously the man doesn't want to "deal" with me. Perhaps he thinks I'll disappear if he ignores me...

You can be sure that I will be present at the next school governing board meeting in January, even if I have to miss a night of work to do so.

Your letter was great, who did you send copies to? You could have sent one to the principals boss (the superintendant of your district) and possibly a newspaper or 3. It wouldn't have taken over a week for them to contact you, and the principal never would have ignored you.

Katiee had a good point about getting involved with the fundraising committee. I have become quite involved at my sons school, because of my son PA. I am at all meetings to know what is going on, have my input before an event starts, and remind everyone the school is PN free.

Let us know what your school is going to do to deal wit this.

------------------
Cynde Punch

A very long update:

I had not received a reply to my initial letter of complaint, so I decided to get a little pro-active.

I attended a meeting of the School Parents

I would definitely write the letter and send it. Have you also considered offering to head up some kind of alternative fundraiser. You said you can't attend the meetings in the evening because you work evenings, I'm assuming you're free during the day. If you offered some suggestions that did not mean more work for the committee, I would bet they would not say no.

This is one of the reasons I am so involved at my sons school. I am always at the school and attend all the meeting to remind the fundraisers, and hot lunch parents that the school is peanut free.

------------------
Cynde

One other thing. How does your school principal feel about all this? Was he/she at the meeting where you expressed your concerns? Our principal hates bake sales because of the health/safety issue and will not allow them, and she has the final word on such matters, her school her rules. If your district does have a policy, and you complain to the principal, they would have to back you up. Good luck.

------------------
Cynde

The principal was at the meeting. He didn't say anything about this issue. I got the impression he wants to "stay out of it" and let the association group handle it.

No, wait. He did say at one point that he wanted to organize an "International" day to sensitize students to the different cultural backgrounds at the school. He said food would be involved (looking me right in the eye when he said it).

I think that sums up his stance...

I haven't drafted a letter yet because I'm still wondering what to focus on. All food sold at school functions should be individually labelled and individually wrapped? There should be no bake sales? There should be no food-related fundraisers period?

Arrghhh....

Have you had a conversation with the principal in his office with your spouse present (two against one). I would certainly do this and tell him you expect him to follow district policy regarding food sales, and you expect him to keep the school peanut free, (I think you said it was a peanut free school). You put it in writing at the same time and let him know a copy will be going to his superior. If he doesn't back you up, go over his head. It is his job to be involved in these kind of things, not just leave it up to a parent committee.

------------------
Cynde

Cynde, thanks for your supportive comments.

I should clarify something here. At the Parent Association meeting I attended, I was firmly told that "all" parents contacted to bake goods were reminded not to use peanut or nut products. This of course contradicts what 2 of the moms who baked told me ("No, they never said not to use p/n..."), hmmmm.

Anyway, the bottom line is that the school does take certain measures to ensure that foods on premises are peanut and nut-free. I can't fault them for that. But these "all-day bake sales", although tentatively peanut-nut free, give me wild anxiety attacks. It's like, I can monitor what activities ds attends, what fundraisers to participate in, etc. But an all-day, school day, homebaked goods smorgasbord? How can I feel safe about it other than keeping him out for the day?

This is why I'm searching for existing policies regarding bake sales to use as a precendent(I've looked quite a bit so far, but none seems to exist anywhere - even contacted FAAN but they couldn't help).

There's a bigger issue here though and maybe I should be starting a separate thread about it:

Many of the points concerning safe foods, sale of foods, etc., in our school district policy are listed under "Guidelines" (therefore up to the discretion of the school?)

I would like to avoid having to "confront" the principal without some kind of enforcable policy to back me up. See, the problem is there is no black and white policy in place. The district one consists of guidelines, and the school itself has nothing on paper regarding their peanut-nut free status --other than saying it in their agenda book. Amazing, isn't it?

Do I, can I, be the one to draft some kind of official policy regarding food allergy at the school? Do I want to jump into murky legal waters? Do I want to perhaps jeopardize what peanut-nut-free status exists now?

Has anyone been here before?

Gee, my posts are getting way too long...

okay, this may not be a popular reponse, but...is the school peanut free, by virtue of a total involuntary ban? My school sent out a letter "asking" parents to help by not sending in any thing with peanuts. In all food related correspondence it is asked that no nuts be brought in. I will still never let my child eat anything homebaked for a school function. If it had a recipe with ingredients attached I still would not let my son eat it. How do I know if they used the same knife to cut the peanut free brownies that they used to cut "Johnny's" pb sandwich. All I am saying is if they asked everyone to make the bake sale pn free the contact risk is minimal. Would your recommendations change the fact that your child couldn't eat the said food? For me, they wouldn't. I don't trust anyone! If they have made accomodations for you regarding their overall policy, I say let it be. There will be sometimes that our children cannot participate equally in some functions, so be it. They are, unfortunately, different from the other kids. I have taken my child out of school during some events. Multicultural Day is one of them. It is asked that no food contain nuts, but who knows.. I don't feel comfortable with it. I don't complain. I just write a note to the teacher explaining that it will not be a safe environment for my son so he will miss the day. It gets the point across.. this is serious. My problem with all these events, as stated by someone above, is the obsession with food in the schools. That should be addressed. I tried at my district levell, but noone seems to care that our children are inundated with junkfoods on a regular basis. I think they have no clue as to the amount of foods going in. We know, because of the allergy situation, but when I speak about it I feel people just tune out because they think it is an allergy issue. I think it is a health issue for all children. Good Luck with your endeavor. Do you have any fear that they may change there "policy" because you keep referring to it as something they must adhere to? That is what I was trying to get at above. Sorry so long.

I know exactly what you're saying Lidia. I absolutely would not allow ds to eat any homebaked goods from the school ever, p/n free policy in place or not.

You've pretty much summed up how I'm feeling about all this right now. Part of me thinks, how differently would things be if there were written procedures somewhere? Still wouldn't change how ds approaches food at school. Still wouldn't keep me from keeping him home on those food event days...

Yet, a part of me thinks that the absence of some kind of allergy/anaphylaxis policy is a time bomb waiting to happen. There's no incentive for accountability, kwim? Those that are being accomodating are doing so of their own volition. What happens if/when a mishap happens? Will the school recognize its responsibilities and make appropriate restitutions? Will there be a lot of finger-pointing and "That wasn't up to me"'s being said?

There's also the lack of support from the principal of ds's school. He's shown that he isn't willing to get involved in my efforts to come up with a plan. He hasn't tried to deter me, but he hasn't helped me either. Some kind of board recognized policy may come to my rescue someday (my son still has 6 years to go at the school).

The letter I plan to write to the school board will focus, in part, on the plethora of food-related special activities and fundraisers. I agree that food has become such a major focus of the school day; makes you wonder if the reason reading and writing skills are declining is because phonics doesn't come in a ring-pop format and grammar in new blue raspberry flavour.

I'm still gathering as much info as I can from various sources and actually, if anyone knows how to contact PeanutTrace, I'd REALLY like to have a copy of her "Food Safety and Handling" procedure.

arachide,

Do you have a 504 in place? that would be the first place to start. With that everyone knows their responsibilies and they MUST be accountable. In our district it meant sitting down with a district member, principal, psycologist and nurse to get it started before Kindergarten. Since then we just review and update within our school. The key in my situation is that I have a supportive principal. If you need to go over his head, you must, at last resort. Try to work with people positively. My son is now in 2nd grade. Some people have lied about me regarding this allergy and have bad-mouthed my supposed "ways". One person, actually went to a district meeting and told the board I wouldn't let parents bake for their own children's birthdays. Since I have a good relationship that has always been based on mutual respect and compromise it wasn't an issue. If I was a troublemaker, not that you are, that situation could have played out very differently.
You should definitely have something in writing in place for your son. The school, by law, must ensure a safe environment for your child. It won't state that noone can bring in nuts to a bake sale, but it may state that your son not come in contact with any baked goods not brought in from home. That way the teacher will have to ask children to eat their snacks in another room, possibly wash their hands before entering your classroom, etc. It safeguards your child.

If you haven't already, and you need help with a managment plan or 504... Search Laura P under those terms. She has a great start for you. That is where I started. The school was very impressed with the plan and we made our 504 by condensing it. Good luck.

I believe Arachide is from Quebec, like I am. That means a 504 is non-existent here, yet public schools have some sort of obligation to have a safe environment for all kids. If Arachide's son is in a private school, then it's really up to the school.

The private school we had planned on for my son told us flatly that they would pick another kid over my son, if we raise a stink about the food allergy. Their current policy is to have all epipens at the nurse's office. But what does the nurse do at lunch time? She goes *out* of the school to eat at a restaurant somewhere out there, and the person left in charge has no training whatsoever.

Needless to say, we decided to homeschool (well it's not the only reason, but it helped.)

Yes, I'm up in Canada (it's -21 celsius today in Montreal). No 504 plans here but I will certainly search Laura P's info regardless.

DS is in public school, so there are grounds for insisting his needs be accomodated as best as possible.

Thanks to PeanutTrace who sent me her "Food Safety and Handling" procedure last night. Terrific document!

Hee hee, Arachide. I'm also from Montreal, but currently in Florida. Mind you, it will be freezing here tonight too ...

Sigh.

Okay, here is the letter I wrote for the school board.

Thanks again to PeanutTrace who sent me the procedure.

Hopefully I'll get a response this time around [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/rolleyes.gif[/img]
_________________________________________

Dear XXX,

I am the parent of a student at XXX School who has a peanut and nut allergy. There are nearly a dozen children flagged with food allergies at the school.

Many school events and fundraisers center around food, much of which may be hazardous to those afflicted with food allergies and/or intolerances, not to mention of questionable nutritive value (baked treats, candy, chocolate bars, cookie dough, etc...).

I would like to present for your perusal a sample copy of the Food Handling and Safety procedure currently employed by the Grand Erie School Board, York, Ontario (used by permission). This excellent document is used in conjunction with their school board policy on Anaphylaxis. The procedure ensures certain accountability towards the safety of food allergic students, particularly those at risk of anaphylaxis. It effectively outlines the roles and responsibilities of those involved in the food event to make it as safe as possible for food allergic students, and clearly accounts for the inclusion of the at-risk students (who may otherwise have to be excluded from the food-related school event because of possible exposure risk.)

As long as food-based events are to be held at school, I would like to see some kind of similar written food allergy safety procedure in place at my local school, if not board-wide. While XXX School does take great measures to remain a peanut and nut-free zone (peanut and nut product are not allowed at school), the presence of some kind of written Food Allergy policy could only serve to further outline appropriate food allergen avoidance strategies and even further significantly reduce the risk of accidental exposures for all of the more serious food allergies, not just peanut.

Should the time come that the increasing number of anaphylaxis-risk students entering schools prompts the XXX School Board to re-examine its policies regarding food in school, I would strongly recommend the "Anaphylaxis: A Handbook for School Boards" published by the Canadian School Boards Association (sponsored in part by Health Canada). This guide for drafting Anaphylaxis policies can be downloaded for free at [url="http://www.cdnsba.org/"]http://www.cdnsba.org/[/url] . According to the CSBA, the handbook is "a useful tool for school boards as they continue to find ways to provide a safe learning environment for children with life-threatening allergies... reflects the latest thinking of the medical and legal professions, as well as the actual experience of school boards." The Calgary Board of Education's "Severe Allergies Policy" is a comprehensive policy modeled upon the guidelines provided in the handbook ( [url="http://www.cbe.ab.ca/ch_supt/oppolicy/pupils.asp"]http://www.cbe.ab.ca/ch_supt/oppolicy/pupils.asp[/url] ).

I await your response regarding my proposals. I also offer my services as a parent consultant should need be to assist in the drafting of any kind of food allergy safety policy or procedure.

Sincerely,

You go girl!!!

Excellent letter! Can't wait to hear their response!

Awesome letter, can we borrow it if we ever need to?

Anyone who'd like to use my letter as a model, please go right ahead.

I'll post any response I get here.

I finally received a reply from the school board food technician yesterday:

_____________________________________
Dear XXX,

Thank you for your letter dated xx, 2003. I appreciated receiving your constructive comments and the articles concerning safe food handling and food allergies.

Food, whether it is in the form of lunches, snacks or fund raising, is a daily occurrence in our schools. Your suggestion to raise the awareness of safe food handling in our elementary schools is an excellent one. We are presently planning such an initiative. The results from this initial project will be the basis for future projects.

The [i] Food Safety and Handling Procedure [/i] from Seneca Central Public School was an interesting article. We are constantly looking at ways to best serve our entire student population. At the moment we are pleased with the positive collaboration which presently exists in our elementary schools in regards to food allergies. Many school communities have adopted school specific, class specific, and/or student specific strategies with regards to providing as safe an atmosphere as possible for children with allergies. These strategies meet individual and school specific difference.

At the XXX School Board our elementary schools develop and evolve with the population of their community. We trust the Principals, Staff and Governing Boards with ensuring that all their students and specific needs are cared for. Each school annually adjusts its procedures according to the needs.

We thank you for your offer of service and we would like to add your name to our resource list of informed parents whom we may call upon in the future.

Sincerely,
XXX

Food Technician
_________________________________________

So basically, the school board isn

hhhmmmm!!!

...but all is not lost!

Unfortunately that is how the Canadian system is set up! Each individual school sets their own guidelines and procedures for their individual schools. So, maybe this letter should have gone to your school council (parent run), and a carbon copy to the principal stating that you do not feel that your child is safe because of the lack of procedure etc... and that you would like to propose that a procedure be developed for the school for safe food handing.

This is how I had our procedure implemented!

Sorry, I can't remember if you already tried this with your principal. I'm going to go back and read this link!

Good Luck, don't quit yet!!

[This message has been edited by PeanutTrace (edited March 05, 2003).]

ok, I've re-read the post!

It seems that you don't want to discuss with principal, he seems a bit unaproachable, but I really can't see how you will accomplish this without first discussing this with him. ie. more than a letter, if he doesn't respond to a letter you write, I would call him and tell him you need an appointment to discuss this.

Most schools in Canada now have a policy on anaphylaxis. What is your boards policy like, is there anywhere in the policy that states, "each individual with anaphylaxis should have an individualized plan in place to ensure safety at school?" or something like that???

Oh dear. I didn't like the "tone" of that letter. I found it both patronizing and meaningless. Sigh. Miriam

Hi PeanutTrace,

(thanks again for the documents! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img])

I did send an initial letter to the principal outlining my concerns. He never replied.

I did send him an early draft copy of my letter to the board ASKING FOR HIS INPUT AND ADVICE before I send it to the board. He never replied.

I telephoned him and was told he was unavailable so I left a message asking that he call me back re: the draft I sent. He never replied.

I agree with you 100% that opening a dialogue with the principal is how to proceed. But what does one do when the principal doesn't acknowledge you?

I should mention here that I did meet with this principal at the start of the school year to discuss any existing policies (of which there were none). Here are some of the comments he made to me:

"Oh, this must be your first..."
"The teachers handle that."
"Sometimes you have to sever the umbilical cord."

[img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/frown.gif[/img]

An apathetic (not to say unprofessional) school principal is the reason I contacted the board with my concerns.

And btw, my particular school board has no board policy regarding anaphylaxis, food allergies, and the like...

Tell me about it, Miriam.

I'm not giving up on this -just rethinking how to proceed...

ok, now I've read your other thread so I understand better re the communication you have had with your principal!

Not fun!! I totally agree by the way that we need standards and hopefully I'll be able to join that thread. I brought this up long ago but seems like there are some really great people on the boards right now to possibly work on this!!

Try to schedule an appointment with your principal, utilizing your school boards policy on anaphylaxis to your advantage and identifying that you need a policy for your specific school. Tell the principal you will be taking the issue to school council and are requesting that a school policy be developed.

shoot!!

You guys are too quick!! That's why I've given up on this board!! There's just too much to read for a part timer. It took me almost an hour (you can check that by looking at the last time I posted) to read the other thread on standards and then I immediately came back in here to post and you had already posted several times! Sigh!!

So now I'm behind again!

You really don't have a policy on anaphylaxis! Yikes!! Stone age!! That's absolutely horrible!! Have you brought the Canadian school board handbook to their attention. It states that each school board and district should develop one!

Forgive me if I am recalling the wrong poster, but I loved their saying, I believe it was Katiee from Ottawa, does that make sense? or Deb O? Man I'm out of touch on this site. Anyways when someone wasn't getting a response from their principal or super, she said, she would "pack a lunch, show up at their office and let their secretary know that they were here to see them. Kindly letting the secretary know, that they can wait!" That is exactly what I would be doing in this situation. I would be demanding a meeting with the principal by pushing my way into his office if I had to. Short of that, if the principal still denied me my right as a parent to speak to him of a concern I had, then I would be filing a complaint immediately to the superintendent. This principal needs to know you mean business!!!!!

oh and I've heard the first time parent/cutting the umbilical cord saying before! Anytime I get a comment like that, I aggressively throw it back to them, "are you saying that I am being over potective, and unnecessarily concerned?" It will either take them aback and make them say "no" and change their tone with you, or they will clarify it in a nicer but equally demeaning way. At which point they have admitted to that feeling and you nail them with, "well I take great offence to that, it tells me that you have no idea about the concerns of parent of a child with severe food allergies and I'm not certain we'll be able to work together without the assistance of the superintedent"

Now, was there something else I was going to say??? oohh I give up for today or at least for now my brains boggled with information.

[This message has been edited by PeanutTrace (edited March 05, 2003).]

Hey PeanutTrace!

Speedreading is a skill I wish I had when I try to read through these threads sometimes!!!

FYI, I did mention the Canadian School Board Association's Handbook on Anaphylaxis in my letter.

Since I want to push for policy, I'm thinking I'm going to have to keep plugging away at the higher levels.

I work for the school board ... which can be a good thing and a bad thing, anyhow, I mentioned to a Superintendent (I had my mommy hat on at the time) about the Canadian School Board Association's Handbook on Anaphylaxis --- a few weeks later he told me they have a copy. I know they have some procedures in place but I WILL have to search out more before my daughter enters Grade 1 next school year.

I WANT her to carry her epi-pen (either on her on in her backpack) and her inhaler b/c she goes to Daycare before and after school. I don't want (nor do I think staff would want) the epi-pen and inhaler to be on the coat hook out in the hallway. I want it in the classroom but I know there is something about medication being locked up in the office. So far the SK teacher has ignored this since all the SK's have their backpacks hanging in the classroom anyhow.

Sooooooooooooooooo, what I am trying to say is YES go higher -- Superintendent, Director of Education. Really the squeaky wheel DOES get the oil. Good Luck.

Just wanted to say that I've contacted a former school commissioner I know to see what he feels my next step should be.

I also plan to contact the other 9 families at the school with PA kids and see if I can't make this a group effort.

Stay tuned...

"in an effort to provide a safe environment for all students, XXX School has adopted a NO peanut and nuts policy"

"In an effort" is a contradiction of "policy"...which means big time "LOOPHOLE".

I'm hoping that you are willing to hear my suggestions, if so read on.

1.) Write letters in a concerned manner

2.) Be able to make suggestions

3.) Think of how you would feel to receive your letter

The tone of a letter is very important in keeping a listening audience otherwise it could wind up in the trash bin.

Look into other ways to fundraise. At my daughter's school, entertainment coupon books are sold. My husband & his baseball team also sell them but they are from a different company; theirs have only coupons for fast food & amusement parks. Suggest this to your (I forgot your term, ours is the PTA...Parent Teacher Association) & the principal. I know, I know....people can be lazy or what have you by not looking into alternatives, but its what we have to do to keep our PAs safe.

One other point is that people in general do not like to be told what "to do" & they do not like others making them feel like they are being "forced" into it. Comfort zone?

So you may want to try sending another letter like:

Dear Bonehead, (oops!)...I mean Mr. ______

On (date), I kept my son/daughter (child's name) due to our (always include Dad) concerns of a potential health risk due to the 6th grade Bake sale. As you are aware, my child has a peanut/nut allergy therefore exposure to these could cause a lethal reaction.

As an alternative, could coupon books be sold instead? They have been proven to raise more funds than a bake sale. (Provide name of company & phone # so that the principal can give to the (PTA) & also send them (as many members as possible) a different letter w/the reason for your suggestion, the contact information including PA info...cc, every letter).

I will call you in the next few days so that we may discuss further the issue of using an alternative.

The part that "sucks" is that you may have to make him feel like its his idea, his decision...massage the ego. Its annoying & really is trivial however the main issue is getting what you want to keep your child safe.

Try this before bringing in the big guns! You want to have a good relationship w/this man.

Stay safe!

By the way, a fund raising sale should be scheduled well in advance....they should also think about that!

[This message has been edited by LisaMcDowell (edited March 08, 2003).]

Today (March 21st) is the Quebec Day for Food Allergy Awareness. Of course my son's class is having a food tasting activity.

It's just raw vegetables but still...

AND

next week the kindergartens are having a pyjama breakfast. The teacher did ask me for a safe food list and I'll be there to help (read: watch everything my son handles!)

I should make a chart of all the special events that occur throughout the year and note which ones involve food (off the top of my head I can't think of one that didn't).

[img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/redface.gif[/img]

cleo sends subliminal waves towards arachide

[i]homeschool homeschool homeschool [/i]

****Ohmmmmmmmmmmmm****

lolololol, cleo...

Talk to my husband!

cleo diverts the waves towards husband.

Honestly though, if he wants to talk to me, (or you) you can give me a call. We're in the same city, we should help each other [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

Quote:Originally posted by darthcleo:
[b]cleo sends subliminal waves towards arachide

[i]homeschool homeschool homeschool [/i][/b]

[img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/biggrin.gif[/img]

Just to be clear to everyone, I do not believe one should homeschool *because* of food allergy. It depends on where you are, and how allergy-aware the school and school districts are in your area.

Over here, in Quebec, I do believe homeschooling is a valid alternative because schools and parents are not very cooperative, *and* the local food allergy association isn't much help.

That said, homeschooling has a lot of good side effects that means every parents should at least consider it and then decide if it's something they want to do....

OMG !!! Is this your first, sever the umbilical cord? How in the world did you control your temper? As far as the comment about your wanting to have a good relationship with this man, you obviously dont and never will. He has ignored, patronized and disrespected you. I would be writing to the superintendent, school board, and anyone else to get rid of this man. What an idiot. My son starts kindergarten in the fall and our school has no PA students so they have no plan at all in place and are working on one now, and I have a great relationship with principal and nurse and a lot of teachers so Im hopeful, but I have already decided that if I feel its not safe or he will be left out and treated bad,(teachers are upset) he will NOT go. Plain and simple. I will homeschool him until it is safe. I could not live with myself if something happened and Im fortunate enough that I do day care at home, so I could do it. My husband is also against homeschooling but you know what, tough! He can deal with it. Im not going to have to live with the fact that I didnt feel safe sending him , but my husband did and something happens. Im by no means criticizing anyone, except your principal, so no one take this the wrong way, I know not everyone has that option, but thats just how I feel.

Yeah, I realize I can never "trust" this principal... As for keeping a hold on my temper, well, it hasn't been easy, but I refuse to be as rude as him.

Thanks for the homeschool vibes... I'll let you know!

Hi again. Just wanted to let you know that I finally told my husband last night that if we decide that the school is not safe we will homeschool and he agreed. Just wanted to let you know there is hope!

the school is *not* safe, just like the outside world. It's all a matter of controlling and accepting risks. But I would never say that a school is safe.

There comes a time where a child is old enough to navigate the world (as far as PA's concerned, at least) but that time will vary from child to child. It's possible that a 6 year old can handle the dangers in first grade. I don't believe my own child is ready.

[This message has been edited by darthcleo (edited March 23, 2003).]