Florida School District Deals with Student’s Life-Threatening Peanut Allergies

Leaders of Edgewater Elementary School in Edgewater, Florida, are reportedly
planning to meet with parents disgruntled over the school’s accommodation
of a 6-year-old girl with severe peanut allergies. Noting that the girl’s allergies
are life-threatening and considered a disability under the Americans with
Disabilities Act, Volusia County School District spokesperson Nancy Wait said
the meeting will help dispel inaccurate rumors that other students’ mouths
were being wiped with disinfectant to protect the first-grader’s health.

Wait said the girl’s fellow classmates are required to wash their hands
before entering the classroom in the morning and after lunch, and rinse
their mouths. A peanut-sniffing dog has also apparently visited the school.
In answer to some parents’ suggestion that the girl be removed from the
classroom and homeschooled, Wait said that was not an option because it
violated the federal law. See MSNBC.com, March 22, 2011.