New Bill Strengthens Connecticut School Guidelines
This past year, with the support of volunteer parent advocates, FAI successfully led the campaign for a new amendment that vastly improves the guidelines for managing food allergies in Connecticut schools. The amendment is part of a bill titled “An Act Concerning the Use of Asthmatic Inhalers and Epinephrine Auto-Injectors while at School,” which was signed by Governor Jodi Rell on June 30, 2009.
The original Connecticut food allergy school guidelines act, which was signed into law in 2006, created statewide best practices guidelines and required public school districts to "implement a plan based on the guidelines for the management of students with life-threatening food allergies." The 2009 amendment states that every Connecticut public school district must make its plan available on every board’s or school’s Web site, and must provide annual notice of the plan’s implementation to the state department of education, as well as to parents and guardians. These mandates were not included in the original law.
Importantly, the new bill also requires that schools allow a student to carry an epinephrine auto-injector or asthma inhaler, as long as the child’s doctor and parents provide consent.