Some parents want no peanut-based products served in the schools.
LUDLOW - The School Committee here is reconsidering its policy on food allergies.
School superintendent Theresa M. Kane says there are parents who want no peanut-based products to be served in the schools and other parents who do not want their children with peanut allergies to be required to sit at peanut-free tables.
“Some parents say their children will not be segregated in life, and others do not want there to be any risk,” Kane said.
School districts across Western Massachusetts have varying policies for how they deal with students with food allergies, but most do not prohibit all peanut-based products in the school.
In Chicopee, for example, cafeteria workers have photographs of all children with food allergies and are trained in what not to serve them, according to Joanne Lennon, director of food services for the Chicopee Public Schools.
Chicopee students with food allergies also have a medical record on file in the nurse’s office at their schools, and parents have the option to have their children sit at peanut free tables. There are EpiPens for the children with severe allergies, Lennon said.
In Ludlow, the School Committee plans to adopt a final policy at a meeting in August regarding how the system deals with the issue of life-threatening food allergies. The date for the meeting has not been set yet.
Kane said peanut products are not served in the cafeterias at either East Street School or Chapin Street School which the youngest children in the school district attend, but children are permitted to bring products with peanuts from home.
“Our attorney has advised us not to adopt a policy which states there will no peanut-based products in the schools because it may give parents a false sense of security,” she said.
She said there are some oils, for example, which are peanut based, and it is difficult to guarantee that all such products will be kept out of the schools.
The school district has peanut-free tables in the cafeteria, and it is up to parents whether they require their children to sit at them, Kane said.
Students with allergies have a medical plan on file with the nurse, and teachers and cafeteria workers are trained that students with food allergies are not to be served foods to which they are allergic.
Students with the most severe allergies have EpiPens so they can be injected with epinephrine if they go into anaphylactic shock.
In 2006, a 16-year-old Agawam boy collapsed and died after he ate a peanut butter-based cookie at a friend’s house.
Chicopee’s Lennon said peanut-butter sandwiches are served as an alternative to the main meal in school cafeterias there. She said many parents pack peanut butter sandwiches for their children.
“For many children it is a mainstay,” she said. “It is a vegetable based nutritious lunch.”
Besides peanut butter there are children allergic to bread and also tomatoes, Lennon said, and children who are allergic to milk.
Azell M. Cavaan, communications director for the Springfield Public Schools, said the city’s schools do not serve peanut-based products, although children can bring them from home.
Springfield Public Schools cafeterias have peanut-free zones which are an option for students. Students with severe allergies have an EpiPen and a detailed medical plan, Cavaan said.