Nuts Ban In Amherst Schools

Hi Larry:

I received your request for a copy of the report from the Wellness Committee about the consumption of nuts on school property.  With regard to the wellness subcommittee’s recommendation, I thought it might be helpful to outline the process I followed and the information I considered in establishing the allergy aware guidelines.   As per Policy ADF: Wellness, a subcommittee of the Wellness Committee was tasked with studying life-threatening allergies in the schools. The outcome of their work was the Life Threatening Allergy Guidelines document which was submitted to Dr. Brady and me for review. We fully reviewed this document, as well as the DESE guidelines, both of which note that surfaces need to be washed with appropriate cleaning materials before and after each meal period and that students must wash their hands with soap and water before and after eating. Recent CDE guidelines also support these measures.  These steps are to ensure that we minimize cross-contamination of tables, desks and other surfaces. 

Our schools have close to 100 students with peanut/tree nut allergies who, like all students, must be provided with the safest possible learning environment. The districts had already taken steps to that end, including eliminating peanuts and tree nuts from our food service program three years ago, and asking students not to eat on the buses two years ago. These steps were far from perfect, however.   We heard from a few families that they would not comply with student specific/class specific requests to avoid peanut/tree nut products unless it was a standard held for all students and faculty.  Also, Dr. Brady and I had significant concerns about the schools’ ability to implement the recommended safety guidelines with fidelity since we cannot ensure that all students are complying with hand washing, and we cannot ensure that all surfaces are cleaned properly since students eat in multiple locations, including snacks in their classrooms.  After much deliberation, my decision was to take what I believe to be the logical next step and ask all families and staff to refrain from bringing peanut and tree nut products into our schools. To support this, paragraph four on page one, which includes “allergy aware” language, was added to the Life Threatening Allergy Guidelines.  Even though we now exclude peanuts and tree nut products in our schools, we will continue to follow appropriate guidelines as well and to stress the continued education of students and staff regarding allergies.

The final document is attached.

Best,
Maria

>>> Larry Kelley <amherstac@aol.com> 12/19/2013 4:57 PM >>>

Maria,
So the Wellness Committee or sub-committee never recommended "ban nuts on school property during school hours", correct?
Larry



Sent: Thu, Dec 19, 2013 5:16 pm
Subject: Re: Public Records Request

Hi Larry,

That is correct- the subcommittee created the guidelines and I determined that we could not fully implement those with fidelity. Given that reality,  I was not comfortable with the risk for our students and took the additional steps of "banning" tree nuts and peanuts.

Maria 

>>> Larry Kelley <amherstac@aol.com> 12/19/2013 5:20 PM >>>
Hey Maria,

So are you now comfortable with the word "ban"?  Or is it still just a strong suggestion?

Larry

 

Sent: Fri, Dec 20, 2013 9:26 am

Subject: Re: Public Records Request

Hello Larry,

 

I've always been OK with acknowledging this as "you can't bring in tree nuts/peanuts." I want to be careful when using a term "ban" because I want to walk the line between sending a strong message that you can't bring this into our schools, and the reality that people with life threatening allergies must continue to be vigilent. I don't want to send the message that we can ever guarantee safety. In addition, we don't want to give the message that a student will be in "trouble" if they forget and bring in a peanut butter sandwich. For most people, the word ban is equated with a disciplinary response.

 

The term allergy aware is used to communicate the message that these guidelines are in place to help students avoid allergic reactions.  The guidelines include a number of other practices that are also part of the "allergy aware" school description. The goal is that combining these steps, including having no nut or nut products in the schools,will provide the safest environment for our students. 

 

Thanks for giving me the chance to clarify.

Maria

   ARPS Wellness Comm on Nuts

By Any Other Name?

So you have to wonder if the Gazette or Amherst Bulletin had today's memo put out by the Amherst Schools, would they still have used the above-the-fold banner headline "Amherst Schools Ban Nuts"?

Probably not.  But my guess is originally the schools had fully intended to BAN nuts, but after the newspapers made such a BIG deal about it, and those snarky comments on Facebook and Twitter started rolling in they, um, waffled.

So now it's not a ban -- God forbid Amherst ban anything other than flying commemorative flags on 9/11 -- it's a "strongly requesting" sort of thing.

Back in 1984 Amherst Town Meeting boldly declared us a "Nuclear Free Zone" to do their part on stopping nuclear weapons proliferation.  Probably would not have worked so well if Town Meeting had only "strongly requested" it.  

Wonder if the Gazette will print a retraction?

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Breaking News Update. Stop the presses!  Superintendent Maria Geryk has sent out a follow up email saying "In response to feedback from families and community members, we will delay implementation until Monday, October 28."  Notice the word "ban" does not appear ...

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UPDATE Saturday Morning (Geeze, I guess they did stop the presses.  Yikes!)