Ep. 242: Back-to-School Basics for Success

It is back-to-school time, and we’re sitting down with FAACT’s General Counsel and VP of Civil Rights Advocacy, Amelia G. Smith, JD, to explore the basics of accommodations and how to prepare for the path to success. She will cover why accommodations are essential while providing must-know tips!

Resources to keep you in the know:

• FAACT’s Accommodations Resource Center
• FAACT's Civil Rights Advocacy Center
• FAACT's Food Allergies and Schools Resources
• Contact Amelia Smith, JD at Amelia.Smith@FoodAllergyAwareness.org

You can find FAACT's Roundtable Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Spotify, Podbay, iHeart Radio, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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Sponsored by: ARS Pharma

Thanks for listening! FAACT invites you to discover more exciting food allergy resources at FoodAllergyAwareness.org!

Transcript

[00:08] Caroline: Welcome to Facts Roundtable, a podcast dedicated to navigating life with food allergies across the lifespan. Presented in a welcoming format with interviews and open discussions,

[00:18] each episode will explore a specific topic, leaving you with the facts to know or use.

[00:24] Information presented via this podcast is educational and not intended to provide individual medical advice.

[00:30] Please consult with your personal board certified allergist or healthcare providers for advice specific to your situation.

[00:45] Hi everyone, I'm Caroline Moassessi and I am your host for the FAACT Roundtable podcast.

[00:51] I am a food allergy parent and advocate and the founder of the Grateful Foodie Blog. And I am FAACT's Vice President of Community Relations.

[00:59] Before we start today's podcast, I just want to say thank you to Ars Pharma for their kind sponsorship of FAACT's Roundtable Podcast.

[01:09] Caroline: It is back to school time and we're sitting down with FAACT's legal counsel, Amelia Smith to explore the basics of accommodations and how to prepare the path for success.

[01:19] She will cover what accommodations are, what while they're important,

[01:24] while providing must know tips the entire time. You won't want to miss this podcast.

[01:29] Welcome Amelia. Back to FAACT's Roundtable podcast. You are an absolute fan favorite because these are the types of podcasts that we get actionable information.

[01:40] You give us all the good things that we need to know that we can take action on to improve the lives of our families and people living with food allergies.

[01:48] So welcome.

[01:49] Amelia: Thank you, Caroline. As always, I'm happy to be here.

[01:53] Caroline: Today we're going to talk about the basics of food allergy accommodations in school. So we're talking K12, but it's really important for us to review the basics because sometimes we forget.

[02:03] I mean, if we have a student who's in middle school or high school, we might forget those basics we learned early on.

[02:09] So this podcast is really important for all of us, people just starting out in school and establishing accommodations, and people who've had children in school for a while.

[02:18] Amelia, let's just dig right into those basics and let's start with what are food allergy accommodations?

[02:26] Amelia: So food allergy accommodations can be found in several different places,

[02:30] but they are instructions and guidelines on how to allow your student to safely and equally access the educational programs and the other offerings of school.

[02:42] And I say other offerings because it doesn't have to just be educational, of course, you know,

[02:47] especially with children with food allergies or students with food allergies, we have many other things that we are typically concerned about in school as well as the actual teaching that need to be addressed here.

[03:00] I mentioned that these could be found in several different places or different ways.

[03:05] Typically, accommodations are going to be under a Section 504 plan, or if your child has an IEP, under the IDEA, they can be added to the IEP plan instead of a separate 504.

[03:18] That's really up to the school.

[03:20] And of course if you're in a private school,

[03:23] you may have an accommodation plan that simply is called an accommodation plan or something else because of course these federal laws don't apply.

[03:32] Caroline: Now that we understand the basics of accommodations, let's talk about why every student should have one even if there's a great policy already in place at their school. I've seen a lot of people online talking talk about that they don't have accommodations because the school has policy, but that doesn't protect the student fully.

[03:50] So if you can explain that.

[03:52] Amelia: So I like to think of every student having an accommodation plan of some sort as a best practice.

[04:00] I know there are a lot of people in the allergy community as well as some of our board certified allergists who think that if everything's going great, your school has a great policy or your state has laws that cover your school that you don't necessarily need one.

[04:17] And I think that does a disservice to your students.

[04:20] One because normally when you find out you need one, it's a little too late.

[04:24] In this case when when things fall through the cracks or something happens, there's an unfortunate accident. Even then, a lot of times parents are scrambling to get a 504 or, or any other accommodations, written accommodations.

[04:40] It's hard to do when you are on the other side of a reaction. It's better to be proactive and address things that you know might be a possible issue as soon as possible on the front end.

[04:55] And I add to that that when things do happen then you can change 504. You could always change your accommodation plan requesting you know, the meeting be reconvened or even sending emails back and forth if you are okay with that.

[05:14] If you feel that that's sufficient. Schools can be in those emails meetings. But definitely I would make sure that you also have everything in writing.

[05:22] Do have a great policy in place at your school or your state has specific guidelines.

[05:29] You know, if you're one of those people who think things are going pretty well right now, I probably don't need an accommodation plan. I would invite you to consider seeking an accommodation plan that incorporates the pre existing policies or state guidelines.

[05:47] Just as another way of saying I want it as, you know, kind of a roadmap or an instruction manual on keeping my child or my students safely,

[05:57] happily and equally engaged.

[06:01] Caroline: So I have a couple of questions for you. In terms of establishing accommodations,

[06:05] how long does that take?

[06:07] Like just so someone can get a feel for. Is this something that you can establish in a day or two? Is it something that could take weeks?

[06:14] Amelia: Yes, it could be a week long process, especially depending on where you begin. Which is one of the reasons that we like to stress or recommend that you begin seeking accommodations for the school year in the previous spring.

[06:29] I think that's beneficial because your previous teacher can address some things that happened during the year. You know, you can get her recommendations or his recommendations, their recommendations as to any changes that might want to be made.

[06:44] I also think that while we recommend this as best practice,

[06:49] unfortunately it's not done in a lot of cases. I will say I would love to have my son's 504 meetings in the spring, but we didn't start doing that until he had an IEP because they are required to update them to a meeting.

[07:05] So the process can be long.

[07:07] You may send a letter in spring and it may be before the school year before you can get a meeting.

[07:13] We all know that everybody's busy. Summer is a hard time because we don't know who all is working. We in with teachers out. So I would say the earlier the better.

[07:24] As to requesting accommodations for the school year, if you haven't done it yet, you can do it now. I would send an email to your school's 504 coordinator if you know who that is.

[07:37] If not, call your central office.

[07:40] Reach out to your special education director. Some of the curriculum coordinators are 504 Coordinator. It depends on your school and your district who they're appointed by. The four coordinator is, but every district has to have at least one.

[07:52] You also could make your referral to the principal,

[07:57] nurse, guidance counselor.

[07:59] Always do it in writing.

[08:01] With emails you have the great opportunity with most programs to request a read receipt so you have actual confirmation that they received it.

[08:10] That is a good way.

[08:12] We will say this time and time again,

[08:15] documenting everything that happens and making sure that anything you agree to, anything you discussed is in writing is going to be the absolute best thing you can do.

[08:26] Caroline: And on that note, with documenting everything.

[08:29] So if a person was to go into a meeting with the school and they're taking notes, would you suggest for them to write up the notes and share them back and say I'm just.

[08:38] Amelia: Confirming everything I Think that's the perfect way to do it?

[08:41] I would.

[08:42] If not your full notes, but maybe an overview, the highlight. Here's what we agreed to, here's why we discussed it. If they wouldn't agree to an accommodation that you had requested,

[08:53] you know, I would include that in there as well and explain what they may have said their position was. But then explain your why. That's another Amelia ism that Caroline picks up on sometimes.

[09:05] Because I always say, explain your why, because that is so important when you are trying to convince someone who may be skeptical or overworked, underpaid. Whatever the reason behind the denial,

[09:19] a lot of times it's just sheer ignorance. And I don't mean that in the derogatory sense. I mean they simply just don't know.

[09:26] And until you tell them and tell them how it helps your particular student,

[09:32] they don't often understand.

[09:35] So I would make sure that I put that explanation in writing as well after the meeting, if we had those issues where we didn't reach a mutual plan to move forward.

[09:46] Caroline: Excellent advice. Thank you.

[09:48] So you mentioned getting the referral, but can we go into a little more depth on how does a person establish a food allergy accommodation at school?

[09:56] Amelia: Certainly. So, yes, a written referral would be the first step.

[10:00] Parents, of course, can be a source of a referral. It doesn't have to come from somebody on the school staff, but they could as well. You know, I would hope and think that ideally school nurses could make these referrals when they got the medication form and the different allergy plans and things that we have to submit as parents of students with food allergies.

[10:18] But in reality, that has not been the way that we typically see it proceed. Typically, it starts with a parent's written referral submitted to the school, again, as I said in writing,

[10:29] hopefully ultimately reaching the 504 coordinator. And you, of course, can copy anyone and everyone in the school district that you think might be a member of the team or someone to help you get on board, you know, get the process rolling.

[10:41] It would be a good idea to copy those people in the email as well. You can send it to as many people as you need to.

[10:47] But after the referral is received,

[10:50] school has to determine eligibility. And. And so typically at that point, you have an eligibility determination meeting, which is where the accommodation team, whether it be IEP, 504, they come together and determine whether your child is a student with disabilities who needs accommodations in the school and therefore qualifies for the accommodation plan.

[11:08] Just to simplify it to be as generic and broad to cover both plans as possible. That's what they look at in these meetings. Now the meeting can end with the determination or it can proceed on at that point to accommodation.

[11:25] So that's typically what we see.

[11:27] But I do want to let people know that it could be done in two meetings which would even further prolong the process.

[11:33] But after determination is resolved and your child has been determined a student with a disability who needs accommodations,

[11:41] then you would go into the accommodation meeting. And this is when you negotiate your accommodations back and forth. It it should be a cooperative give and take process.

[11:52] Everyone on the 504 team should have knowledge of your students needs or knowledge of the educational environment,

[12:01] some specific knowledge that would help formulate the most appropriate accommodations. And while I'm on appropriate accommodations, I will add this.

[12:12] Not every accommodation that a student with food allergies has is appropriate for another student with food allergies.

[12:19] And that is one place where we often do see pushback that might actually be warranted from a school. But there are cases when we need to keep in mind that the school only has to do that, what is necessary for our student.

[12:33] And depending on our student's age,

[12:36] their maturity,

[12:38] their other developmental milestones, they may or may not need the same type of accommodation that another student had.

[12:47] So I think it's important to note that not only as you're requesting your accommodations, but also when the school comes back and says, oh, but we do it this way.

[12:55] Well, this way may be appropriate for eight other students in the building with food allergies, but not appropriate for the one child that has oral fixation issues and is constantly sticking things in their mouth where you run that risk of accidental ingestion.

[13:12] Trace protein. So I think that's something that goes both ways. And it's very important to keep your focus on your student you're seeking accommodations for. And to do that, I like to take at least one picture of the student and put it in the middle of the table and say,

[13:26] hey, for those of you who don't know, I'm going to introduce if you don't take your student with you.

[13:30] That's another recommendation that I make sometimes is that if your student is appropriately mature enough to attend their meeting, which mine did at a young age, by putting headphones over his head and we'd just take his headphones off and ask him whatever we needed to ask him.

[13:48] And then when he'd go back to watching his game or his video,

[13:51] doing whatever he wanted to, but it's Also, it's important to get your students input, but taking that picture, taking your student,

[13:59] keeping the focus on your student is very important.

[14:06] Caroline: And can you just give us a brief example of like an accommodation?

[14:09] Like, what would that look at? So if someone's starting off brand new, like what is something that's typically asked for? I mean, I know each student's unique and it needs to be customized, but just a kind of a generalization.

[14:21] Amelia: So I know I'll bring up the two most contentious issues that we hear discussed. And it's, it's the two that no matter which side of the aisle you're on, you're gonna usually have an opinion of whether it's needed for your student or not.

[14:36] One of those is, you know, a hand washing protocol for the class saying that students will wash their hands when they come in, when they, after consuming food, before meals,

[14:47] anytime they might have picked up outside protein, things of that nature. Because we had to do that with my son. There was a child in his class that ate breakfast every morning in the car and he was allergic to eggs.

[14:59] And so they would bring egg protein and he would play with ball and he actually did go into anaphylaxis from getting the trace proteins from the ball to his hands to his mouth.

[15:08] So that is one thing that we had to start requesting and it was implemented. And the amazing thing about hand washing of course, is besides it, you know, just being good hygiene and it should be implemented no matter what, not just for students with food allergies,

[15:21] the cases of illness, the frequency of illness in the classrooms. We saw a dramatic improvement in not just for the students, but the teachers. So that's another thing. You know, when you get pushback or start to think you might get pushback, sometimes you can mention the other benefits.

[15:37] But again,

[15:38] we're not as worried about the other benefits as we are as what our student needs.

[15:42] So I guess I went down that little rabbit hole necessarily for who knows.

[15:46] Caroline: What reason, but that was really good information.

[15:49] Amelia: Another accommodation. Thanks, Caroline. Sorry. Another accommodation that we often hear discussed is the allergen free classroom or peanut free school.

[16:01] Again, I think there's, there's been lots of recommendations that have come out about this. So I'm not taking a position one way or the other.

[16:08] I would suggest that people go read the food allergy management and schools guidelines that are the expert recommendations that the CDC sponsor that we put together last year because they do address this.

[16:24] But I think it's very important that again, we look to our,

[16:28] our students needs when we Ask for these things, but those are the two most common that we, we hear from families that they have issues with one way or the other is hand washing and prohibition of allergens in certain environments.

[16:42] Caroline: Thank you. So now, once an accommodation is established,

[16:46] how do you maintain that?

[16:48] What happens now? So you establish it, student is in school and things keep going, then what else?

[16:53] Amelia: If things keep going well, you schedule another meeting.

[16:58] Usually they try to, we try to update once a year if there are no problems.

[17:03] So everything rocks along. Well, you're doing great. The school has the accommodation plan fully implemented the best way possible. And they're, they're doing everything. Everything's hunky dory. You're good,

[17:15] see you next year. It's really kind of one of those things we'll check back in before we start school. Next year is the way we do ours. But if you've had a problem,

[17:24] if there's been a reaction,

[17:26] if your child develops another allergy, if things are slipping through the cracks, if you find out that a substitute was in there, it may not take a reaction, it may take a near miss.

[17:41] Near misses are appropriate times to call a meeting, in my opinion.

[17:46] So you work together with the school,

[17:50] that's what happens next. You work together with the school, you help them where you can.

[17:54] If there is a problem,

[17:56] you request to reconvene a meeting or a request things be done differently in writing. Or you say, hey, I understand this happened and I don't think this complies with my student's plan.

[18:08] These are all steps that you can take to document yourself. And then of course, should there be a violation of your plan,

[18:15] we're here to help, of course, we're here to help you brainstorm additional avenues of recourse. There different solutions. Because that's one thing I do with most of the families I work with.

[18:25] I think they call thinking or schedule a call thinking they're going to get legal advice. But I can only give that to people in Mississippi and de fact is their general counsel.

[18:36] But I can help brainstorm. And as another parent of a child with allergies who has specialized knowledge in this area,

[18:43] and I am an out of the box thinker, as Caroline knows. And so sometimes it helps just to bounce off these additional ideas, try to come up with alternative solutions.

[18:55] And then of course, if that ultimately doesn't work, if you ultimately hit a roadblock with a school, that the line's been drawn and nothing's going to change things, then of course there's always the still currently today,

[19:10] there is a complaint process with the Office for Civil rights of the U.S. Department of Education that you can always pursue, as well as private or independent federal lawsuit,

[19:22] which historically don't go very well, but they are there.

[19:27] Caroline: Well, thank you, Amelia and listeners. A lot of these resources and areas that Amelia is mentioning. I'm going to have the links to the show notes because Facts has a real specific accommodations resource center, a civil rights advocacy center, and then even a food allergies and schools resource center.

[19:45] So I need you to look at the links because we have a lot of great information there that Amelia's discussing.

[19:51] And so, Amelia, we're out of time.

[19:54] I know, I know, right? It just came too fast.

[19:57] But is there anything else that you want to have listeners hear from you? And then I want to add on a personal request to that,

[20:05] because a second favorite Amelia ism of mine is when you talk about the teachers and how they partner.

[20:13] And I would love for you to touch on.

[20:15] Amelia: Well, and I think it's important for all families to consider when they're going through this process.

[20:20] It is important to remember that people don't go into education typically for the money.

[20:27] I know here in the Deep South, of course, teachers are probably the least compensated professionals with the most responsibility,

[20:37] and they continue to do it because that's where their heart is. I always caution they don't go into it for the money.

[20:44] If nothing else, at one point, they went into education because they had genuine concern for our children and our students.

[20:52] They may be jaded.

[20:53] Years of standardized testing and worrying about scores over everything else may have made them a little hardened. It may take that picture of your child as they would appear in school and then a separate one when they're having a reaction.

[21:09] Sometimes you do have to tug at those heartstrings. But if you remember the person,

[21:14] the human,

[21:15] the person with a good heart who went into education because they care about our students and want them to do well and want them to succeed,

[21:23] then you're going to start from the right place.

[21:25] And as long as we can keep that the central focus of our meeting, making sure that our student is happy, healthy and thriving and learning at school,

[21:37] then you're on the right page.

[21:40] Caroline: Those are fantastic words and pieces of advice. Thank you so much, Amelia, for your time. You are incredibly busy,

[21:49] so we always appreciate you being here and being with us. So thank you so much and we look forward to having you again on FAACT's Roundtable podcast.

[21:56] Caroline: Caroline,

[21:57] before we say goodbye today, I just want to say thank you one more time to Ars Pharma for their kind sponsorship of FAACT's Roundtable Podcast.

[22:12] Thank you for listening to FAACT's Roundtable Podcast.

[22:15] Stay tuned for future episodes coming soon.

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[22:29] Have a great day and always be kind to one another.