By Alan Sorensen
by Alan Sorensen
The Havre Daily News
Wednesday, May 12
The Havre Public Schools Board of Trustees gave unanimous approval on second reading to revisions in the districts administering medicines policy. The policy revisions were presented to the board by Karla Wohlwend, district director of special services/personnel.
The policy details the responsibilities of parents, students, school staff and pharmacists regarding medicines in school.
Wohlwend stressed that the policy provides increased supervision at every level from K-12 and gives high school students less freedom.
Medication is a personal issue and no medication must be shared among students, Wohlwend said.
She added that while it is not specifically stated in the policy, board members and parents should understand that students who are not identified through channels as self-medicating will not be allowed to transport medicines from home to school.
Parents will have to fill out medication authorization sheets before their children can self-administer their medicines at school. The permission disclaimer says: Medication shall be administered in school only when the students health requires that medication be given during school hours.
The authorization sheets also contain a list of conditions that the parents and children must meet. Should a students medications be altered, parents would be required to fill out a new authorization sheet.
The sheet provides school officials with name of the medication or treatment, the amount left at the school, the dosage and times it should be given, the means of administering the medicine. There is room at the bottom for special notes from the parents.
(This policy) strikes a balance from what we have been doing and being able to monitor , Superintendent Kirk Miller said.
He said the policy revisions are changes in protocol that should meet approval of the Havre medical community. The policy will be included in the student handbooks next fall and will be explained to students during assemblies and to parents in the handbooks and memos.
All secretaries will be brought up to speed on it, Miller said. It will become part of our regular procedures and shouldnt cause any problems.
