Conference moira::parenting

In Massachusetts you should be able to get absenteeism  figures from the
schools financial report. A copy of the report is on file with the town 
accountant/treasurer as well as at the state level and is a public document.

The document will not give you figures on why the absenteeisms occurred. 
Sometimes this is done for reasons of privacy to individuals (you would
be surprized at the number of attempted suicides the average high school
deals with). Other times it's a matter of not having accurate reasons.

There are state reporting laws for certain communicable diseases (IE measles)
that require a Board of Health certificate before return to school is 
allowed and the BoH does keep track of these. 

School employees are also mandatory reporters under child abuse/neglect laws
in the state of Massachusetts. Thus an incident like the one reported in the
previous note would immediately have DSS and other state/local service and
law enforement agencies involved. 

    Melissa, please clarify:  in certain circumstances doesn't the school
    have to notify the parents if a communicable disease if found in the
    school, so that parents can have appropriate immunization boosters
    given?  I'm thinking particularly of sending the staff and students for
    Shots following the outbreak of Hepatitis, or a sudden large outbreak
    of other things like Chicken Pox, measles etc, or even head lice?
    
    I do remember reading in the paper just before Christmas that a school
    had closed because over 1/3 of the students and staff were home with a
    flu.  So the school was closed for several days.  I think in that case
    it was simply a case of too few students, and definitely not enough
    teachers.
    
    Last year in preschool a note was sent home telling the parents of a
    violent stomach flu that was hitting the kids very suddenly.  It
    basically warned that if it couldn't be brought under control within
    the next 24 hours that the preschool would be closed for (I think)
    three days to allow for disinfecting all areas, toys and eating
    and cooking utensils, and to allow for the flu to take it's course and
    not spread further.  In this case no specific age group was pinpointed.
    
    Lyn 

    I don't believe the school has to notify the parents in terms of
    communicable disease.  My oldest picked up whooping cough at our local
    junior high a couple of years back.   When Sara caught this there were
    already two other children diagnosed with it......   The schools and all
    the area doctors had been notified by the state dept of board of
    health.   Unfortunately no one bothered to tell the parents..  Since I
    had no idea what Sara had I brought my premature baby home and she 
    promptly caught whooping cough.  
    
    Bottom line, I guess I won't assume that the school system would
    communicate information on communicable disease.
    
    susan    

At our daycare/preschool, they fill out an accident report for a child who
has been hurt, which tells how the child got hurt and what they did about it.
The parents are supposed to sign it, as well as the teacher and the director
of the school, and there is a copy for the school and for the parents.

When the kids get strep or chicken pox or something like that, they post
it on the front door in large letters so everyone sees it.  They tell 
how many cases they have had so far, and in the case of a recent, less
common illness, they also posted the symptoms of the disease and at what
point the child could return to school ("when the rash is gone", type of
thing).

     Carol

RE: .2 

	1. It's Mike not Melissa (my fault for not signing my name!)

	2. Mass. General Laws Chapter 71 sections 53-57 cover medical
	personnel and medical reporting requirements. There are no regulations
	or laws governing the notification of parents other than the parents of
	sick children. However, there are strict guidelines under the 
	jurisdiction of the Board of Health, regarding what diseases are 
	considered communicable and when a child should or shouldn't be in
	school. The school is required to send a child home immediately if
	one of these diseases is found to have infected that child. The child
	cannot return to school without a certificate from the board of health
	or examination by the school physician. 

	3. There are laws regarding the rights of students and parents to privacy
	in the matter of medical issues. For example it is illegal in the state
	of Massachusetts for a school or school employee to reveal information
	that could lead to the identification of HIV/AIDS infected students. 

	4. It would appear to be a matter of policy and therefor a matter to
	bring before the school committee as regards the notification of the
	community when the potential for communication of certain disease
	exists. Some communicable diseases are, by law, screened for within 
	the school (IE tuberculosis). Some are simply seasonal and should at
	least deserve mention in normal newsletters sent home during that season
	(IE the flu, lice, etc). Unfortunately, when schools do notify parents
	of the potential for illness it is more often true that many parents 
	overreact than use common sense and the lack of notification is often
	to avoid dealing with panicking, overprotective parents.

	5. regarding accidents and "coverups". The questin of liability is a
	mute issue as regards teachers and administrators in Massachusetts. 
	Any school employee who renders aid to a student who is injured or
	sick (or potentially so) in good faith is not laible for any damages
	that may be caused by such actions. However, case law does provide
	instances where, if negligence has been proven on the part of the school,
	liability has been enforced. 


Mike 

    This may be a bit nit picky, but if the law says the school doesn't
    have to know if the child has something like HIV, then why does the
    school have the right to refuse to admit my child if I don't provide
    them with a medical history form.  I understand the part that they need
    to know if the immunizations are up to date, but I feel they don't need
    to know what the child's medical history consists of.  
    
    In my case I provided the immunization information, and on the section 
    where is asks for medical history it simply says "contact physician".  
    So far so good.  But then again since AJ has had such EXTENSIVE medical 
    history I'd have to give them a small BOOK with his medical history.  
    I have only told them what I feel they need to know, such as he has asthma
    that may act up from time to time, and affect his classroom behavior,
    as well as he may have an occational toileting accident, which is at
    times beyond his control, and that he can handle these himself without
    assistance.
    
    Lyn
    

Lyn,

	I'll quote the law. Mass. Genrl Laws Chapter 71 section 57:

	The [school] committee, or board of health ....shall cause every child 
in the public schools....to be seperately and carefully examined in such manner
and at such intervals, including original entry, as may be determined by the
department of public health after consultation with the department of education
and the medical profession, to ascertain defects in sight or hearing, postural
and other physical defects tending to prevent his receiving the full benefit of
his school work, or requiring a modification of the same in order to prevent
injury to the child or to secure the best educational results, and to ascertain 
defects of the feet which might unfavorably influence the child's health......
and shall require a physical record of each child be kept in such forms as 
prescribed by the provisions of section 185A of chapter 111. .......

end of law.


Also, the law says that the schools may not require that HIV/AIDS patients
inform them but policies are usually developed that urge parents to inform
school personnel. Since only certain behaviors put others at risk of exposure
those behaviors may result in students being excused from school (IE policies
are being developed to prevent students who bleed profusely or have open
wounds or sores that cannot be controlled by medication or successfully 
covered from attending school as well as students who exhibit behavioral
patterns involving biting.).


The privacy laws protecting the rights of individuals are Mass. Gnrl Laws 
chapter 214 section 1B (Massachusetts Privacy Act) and Chapter 111 section 70F
(prohibition of disclosure of information regarding HIV). Also federal case
law (DOE vs University of Cincinnati 1988) upholds that the right not to be 
identified as HIV positive falls under the constitutional right to privacy. 
Additional protections are afforded to inidividuals under the Americans
with Disibilities Act which defines HIV/AIDS as a disability.



I saw nothing in any law regarding the requirement of full medical history and
thus would expect you wouldn't here anything back from the school for answering
in the manner in which you did. I would also suspect that the school is asking
for this information as a matter of course in order to fulfill its obligation
to your child as its charge during the school day and to better help a school
nurse (or in some cases even a teacher) better deal with any situation that
may arise. That would certainly be open to discussion between the school and 
the parent.