E is back at the same school but in a new class with new teachers.
We got off to a bit of a rocky start with school. First of all, the
transportation department said that they wouldn't transport him. We
went through this last year because we live 1.5 miles from the school,
and in order to ride the bus, we have to live 1.51 miles from school!
We got a letter from his allergist stating that he has serious asthma
and would be better off riding a bus than walking a total of three miles
each day. Surprisingly, as soon as transportation received the letter,
the assigned a bus to both E and GracieGirl.
Then we
had the allergy situation. The school is small and doesn't have a
cafeteria, so the kids eat in their classroom. E always had a special
table and he could invite a friend who wasn't eating peanuts for lunch
to sit with him. After lunch, the kids were responsible for wiping down
the tables. What I hadn't realized was that the kids then moved from
table to table, meaning that E could be sitting at a table where someone
had just eaten peanut butter and then entrusted a kindergartner to
adequately clean the table!
So, their solution this
year was to have all of the kids at their tables...and then have E at
his own desk, all alone, apart from the others. Let's just say that I
wasn't happy with that solution!
We decided to create a
504 Plan for him, just to make sure that the school is doing everything
they can to keep him safe. He was bullied once last year by a kid who
lunged at him with peanut butter on his hands. He was also told by his
reading partner (the younger kids partner with older students in the
school to practice reading) that no one could get sick or die from
peanuts and that he was making it up. She didn't mean anything, of
course, but it really upset him. The 504 Plan will ensure that anyone
working with him in any classroom will be aware of his allergies, know
where his EpiPen is kept, and there will always be a designated teacher
to administer the EpiPen and call 911.
It's obvious
that they think that we're over the top about the allergies (we were
pulled aside and spoken to by the directors of the school for upsetting
E's teacher by telling her how serious his allergies are), but I don't
really care what they think of me. My job is to keep my son safe. I
want to have a good relationship with his teachers and staff, but he is
my number one priority!
