ORANGE PARK, Fla. – Back in August of 2007, 5-year-old Trenton Stokes was attending Orange Park Elementary School. The kindergartner had asthma, and his mother had taken all the necessary steps to ensure that his son had his medication in case he were to suffer from an attack. Within the first week of school, Aug 27th, Trenton had an asthma attack on the playground. He asked the teacher for his medication, who then contacted the school nurse, who then called an ambulance. Unfortunately, Trenton had already collapsed by then, and later died.
Now obviously any story in which a kid dies is a sad one, but for any of you with young kids first starting school, hearing a story like that can hit a little closer to home. While the school maintains that they did everything they were supposed to do, a spokeswoman for Clay County schools stating, “They all acted very responsibly. They did exactly what they were supposed to do. Unfortunately, the child still did not make it.”
But Trenton’s mother does not agree and has now filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Clay County School Board…and before anyone rolls their eyes, thinking this is just a mother either taking advantage of a tragic situation, or a mother who is just lashing out at the only people she can in regards to her son’s death, it sounds like she just may have a case. read the rest and then let me know your thoughts.
Having a spawn myself, I learned, as most parents find out when when their kids first start school, that things have changed. I, even as young as a 1st-grader, could walk my school carrying any medications that where either prescribed to me, or OTC. Today, your kid cannot even carry an aspirin on his person. Because of this, Before the school year, Trenton’s mother met with Principal Jane Bromagen, Amanda Pounds (Trenton’s teacher), the school nurse, other kindergarten teachers, as well as the physical education teacher to inform them of Trenton’s condition and what to do if Trenton suffered an asthma attack.
She even filled out the necessary forms permitting the school staff to administer Trenton’s medication and asked everyone to keep his inhalers and medication with him or his teachers at all times. Therein lies the crux of the lawsuit. As you may have noticed at the beginning of this story, Trenton suffered an asthma attack and asked his teacher for his medication. The teacher had to contact the school nurse because she did not have any of his medication on him as it was locked away. Of course, we cannot go back into the future to see if she had had the medication on her, would Trenton’s fate been any different…but I am inclined to believe that had the staff kept their end of the agreement, you would never have heard the name Trenton Stokes.
What do you readers think? Was Trenton just a victim of more of our school’s nanny-state like rules and zero drug tolerance policies, the understandable stance that schools have to set themselves in to protect themselves from lawsuits, or is this truly a case of wrongful death? For once, I am actually siding with the mother on this case, if the facts are as what is known at the moment. If she did talk to these people, fill out the paperwork, and come to an agreement with the administration of the school, then Donald Maciejewski, Stokes’ attorney statement of “The understanding was crystal clear. The medicine was supposed to be with the teacher with Trenton at all times — no excuses.” rings true.
But even then, even if that is 100 percent correct and the school failed Trenton and his family…what will a lawsuit do? What will it fix? What will it hurt? That’s what makes cases like this so tough…it’s hard to just shrug your shoulders and say “How sad” in regards to Trenton and have no one answer for their role in his death…but then again, I am not sure the effect from a successful monetary lawsuit against a public school necessarily does anything helpful for the actual cause.
Oh well, it’s Monday and I am rambling. Loved to hear your thoughts.
8:58 am on October 27th, 2008
hmmm, this is a tough one. As a mom with four children in elementary school I would want someone to pay for the hurt. As a mom I know that if something happened to one of my little ones the little bit of insurance that we have for them will not pay all funeral costs. I have asthma and so does my son. When I was in middle school I had permission to carry my inhaler on me. In highschool my parents said fuck it your almost grown. Same thing with stuff like midol. I had it but the school didnt know. But this is just a little dude. Mom did everything she was supposed to. Someone needs to pay for the loss of her sons life. Laws wont change that quickly. So start shelling out the dough.
9:16 am on October 27th, 2008
So does this imply that instead of the nurse getting his medicine, she thought it a better idea to make the poor kid wait for ambulance instead? Unless I read that wrong. If that is the case then by all means the mother has every right in the world. This of course will not bring that poor little boy back, but at least he may not have died in vain. One death saves a lot of lives type of thing.
Schools today need to back off a little bit with the medicine thing. When I was in school and this was only 8yrs ago, kids with asthma could carry their inhalers, cause you know, they NEED them. And children of that age know they need them and for the most part are so used to having them, it shouldn’t be that big a deal. And especially with conditions that can be life threatening, why on earth so any child have to wait for their medicine if something happens. And ok, if the school absolutely insits that the children not carry medicine, then they are now held responsible for it. If that teacher had broken that agreementm then it was her fault. Personally, I believe that any child with any condition, who has had it for awhile, for the most part, knows what they are doing, and really should be able to take care of their own medicine.
9:28 am on October 27th, 2008
Well Lawsuits on this kind of stuff, I just don’t know. What will it change? Once you get the money, you can go buy another child…. It Never will replace them… Just like the lawsuit, with the guy sueing God, because of natural disasters…
I do think they need to be held responsible though. Being a teacher you need to also, become a parent. They are left in your care. So if they have to carry a bag with them all day with different items for different children that is what you do. Even if it is tissue to wipe their nose.
I think this law is just weird. This is just screwed up… I do think that if it a life-saving medication, the teacher should be required to have it on their person at all times. NO EXCUSES!!!
9:30 am on October 27th, 2008
I never considered all those costs. Good Point…..
9:39 am on October 27th, 2008
This is horrible – it really hits close to home. My son also has asthma. Last year in Kindergarten, the teacher was supposed to carry his inhaler when they left the classroom. They spent a good deal of time outdoors. My son started having difficulty breathing while they were outside, a fair distance from the school. The teacher didn’t have the inhaler with her, so she sent my son back to the school (and up a steep flight of stairs) accompanied by another 6 yr old child. I was horrified when I heard, and I spoke to the teacher the next day. She could see how upset I was and explained that she had my son in her vision while they walked back to the school. NOT GOOD ENOUGH, I told her. This same teacher also kept bringing her dog into the classroom even though my son is allergic (and that’s what triggers his asthma).
My son, at 6, probably could’ve handled being responsible for his inhaler, but it’s against school policy. By setting that policy, the school is made themselves responsible for the child’s medication. Clearly, they failed in their responsibilities. The mother deserves to win her lawsuit, though I’m sure she’d much rather have her son.
9:39 am on October 27th, 2008
My son has a deadly food allergy. His epi pen was to be kept in the office locked away (his school has no nurse). So it would be the same situation as this poor boy that died if he were to have an anaphylactic reaction. He would have to start having the reaction, notify the teacher, who then would have to notify the office to go into a locked box for my son’s pen. The amount of time this would take, depending on where they were in the school, would be a guaranteed death sentence for my child if he was having an anaphylactic reaction.
The teachers would not take the responsibility and the administration would not allow him to carry the pen on him- in case he stabbed himself and/or someone else just for the hell of it with it. He was in kindergarten last year, by the way. I was told repeatedly that the “onus” of his allergy was on me. It would be impossible for me to follow him around all day. So after he ate food that he is deathly allergic to no less than twenty times last school year, he is now homeschooled. I never ever thought I would homeschool my kids, but it was either that or he would end up dead eventually.
I am in favor of this mom’s lawsuit. There has to be a better way to deal with the fatal conditions that more and more kids seem to have these days.
9:49 am on October 27th, 2008
I think that the lawsuit is a good idea because if anything maybe it will open up some eyes. Of course it will never bring the boy back, but they were negligent and something needs to change. An article just came out last week that talks about child allergies being up 18% in the last decade so schools need to adjust to that. I’ve attached the article.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/22/AR2008102201975.html
9:54 am on October 27th, 2008
I think this mother has every right to file a lawsuit. Considering that she went through all the necessary steps to ensure that everyone was informed about Trenton’s condition and she even went through the measures to ask that the appropriate people always have his medication on hand…ABSOLUTELY, she has every right.
A parent is expected to be responsible do everything within their power to ensure the safety of their child. She did. The school failed Trenton. What kind of nurse does NOT provided medication immediately in a potential life-threatening scenario?? It was a matter of life and death and all of them failed Trenton. With severe asthma, minutes count…I am rather sure the nurse knew that and if she doesn’t she had no business working there.
Unfortunately, even a lawsuit will not bring Trenton back. However, what options does this mother really have? If she wants to make a statement, make someone pay, sort to speak, hitting them in the pocket seems to make the most impact. Had she said, oh, well, nothing can bring my baby back and be done with it…would the public really have heard much about it?. With a lawsuit there will be long term coverage and effects and putting the school front and center. HELL yes, I would be dragging their ass through the mud every possible moment. Getting their money is empty punishment but it’s something…give her that.
She’s not getting her Trenton back…she’s NOT getting her baby back. I say make them pay every way possible way within legal limits…hell, that’s being generous given the circumstances.
10:04 am on October 27th, 2008
I would like to know if the nurse will be losing her licence? My husband is a paramedic and I think he would lose his licence if he refused to treat a patient.
10:05 am on October 27th, 2008
I wholeheartedly agree with this. The mother knows she cannot get her son back, that no money can ease her heartache. But maybe she wants to make sure this doesn’t happen to another child– and a lawsuit may force the administration to examine their policies and change them. This mother did everything she could to make sure her son was safe and would be taken care of in case of emergency. The school failed (if the facts are as presented), and should be held accountable.
10:14 am on October 27th, 2008
Video added finally.
10:20 am on October 27th, 2008
Moonlilly, do we even know that the nurse refused to treat him? Maybe by the time the nurse got to him, he was already passed out or something, then that may be why they called the ambulance. Just a guess. I think that good points were raised in the post. The boy is gone and he won’t be coming back so is it even worth it? The school though, had a written agreement that was to be followed. The teacher should have had the medication with her out on the playground, especially out there, where he is moving around and playing. She never should have had to call a nurse. I think that the teacher should be at fault. It all depends on that agreement and whose names are on it. Very scary.
10:21 am on October 27th, 2008
Oh, look at his sweet little face…….
As the mother of a son who has Asthma, Michael always had his inhaler with him. Until he got into the 7th grade then they said it had to be held by teacher or the nurse. Well he had 5 different teachers!
I gave one to each teacher and the nurse. I very completely made them understand he was never to anywhere without it as if something happened, I would OWN the school. I made them very afraid of me.
So i’m with the mom on this one. The school did not take proper precautions to make sure he was going to safe. And now that sweet little boy is dead. That poor mother, I can’t imagine her pain. She did everything she was supposed to do.
10:36 am on October 27th, 2008
That’s exactly what probably happened. I didn’t mean for people to take my sentence too literally, I was just shortening events. The point is that the medicine Trenton needed, if what the mother says is true, was not on the teacher, but rather locked away elsewhere in the school.
I am sure everyone involved…the Nurse, teacher, staff, all are heartbroken over this death and did everything they could at the time to save Trenton’s life. The question is simply whether any negligence was displayed by the school for not having his medication near him at all times, as that was allegedly the agreed upon decision.
10:49 am on October 27th, 2008
It sounds like by the time the nurse got her ass in there, he had already collapsed and it was too late to use an inhaler, is that right? Clearly, the medication should have been available to the teacher, in a locked desk drawer perhaps. My question would be, is the school the proper target of the lawsuit? Rather than the state itself? Was the school following state rules? If so, sue the state. If they were following state rules, that trumps the agreed-upon decision b/t mother and school (in the same way that statutory rape laws trump “consensual sex” b/t an adult and a 12 yr old).
10:58 am on October 27th, 2008
Well, I think that is what the lawsuit is going to address. Regardless of the laws, if the mother had an agreement with the staff, an agreement that included keeping Trenton’s medication on them at all times so that Trenton had access to it immediately, does that justify a wrongful death because Trenton died as a direct result of them not doing that.
11:00 am on October 27th, 2008
I feel if the staff agreed to have the medication readily available at all times, they failed on their end.
At the same time when you have many students, and several with special needs it puts a lot of added pressure on the staff. Some teachers I would totally trust handling the extra responsibilities some I would not. At my child’s school one student has an extreme allergy to nuts, apparently if you’re handling or eating peanuts and come into contact with him it could be fatal. So no one’s allowed to bring peanut butter sandwiches to school, if a parent forgets or a relative makes a students lunch and the allergic child is affected what happens fault, tragedy? I don’t know were I’m going with this just reminded me of this other poor family’s situation.
11:05 am on October 27th, 2008
Hell, I quit law school in the 2nd semester and I don’t know. I do recall that a contract isn’t necessarily binding if its precepts are in conflict with a law. Like, if you sign a lease that says landlord isn’t responsible for XYZ but the state’s Landlord-Tenant Act says the landlord IS responsible for it, you may have a case even though you signed.
11:07 am on October 27th, 2008
…I was also thinking, in a wrongful death suit you’re going for $$$, so you want to hit the deepest pocket possible. And that is what I remember from the Torts class.
11:16 am on October 27th, 2008
Sue Baby Sue… this is just incredulous! I know the schools have become really anal with this medication thing, but with asthma you MUST have an inhaler handy..The more they can’t breathe the more they panic to breathe and the whole situation just gets worse.. I’ve walked the width and breadth of elem, middle and high schools, and I’m winded just walking to the clinic to pick up my grandchildren… I can’t imagine a life and death situation where the medication is in BFE..They did not hold up their end of the agreement and take care to insure her son was safe.. I’d start with the school and then the state!!!May you rest in peace Trenton, it should not have been your time to go!!!
11:33 am on October 27th, 2008
Hell Ya! There needs to be some sort of precedence set here. These rules in the schools nowadays are just ridiculous. No one wants to be responsible for anything regarding such a thing. But then when the child dies-such as this case- NO ONE WANTS TO BE RESPONSIBLE.
Sue em for sure-no it won’t bring the little guy back, but it might save another kid from dyeing.
11:35 am on October 27th, 2008
I was just curious to know those details if anyone knew. The blame sadly is going to go against the nurse and her licence. If the teacher had signed an agreement to carry his medication with her at all times then the responsibility should go to the teacher. Not to the nurse. Not to the entire school system. Now on the other hand ( thinking of many scenerios ) what if the child was still breathing at the time of going to the nurses office or the nurse going to his class room and she decided not to give him his medication but to just call the ambulance, well in Maryland you treat and triage to the paramedics when they get there. Its pretty messy all in all. But someone should have to pay a monetary price for the loss of this child’s life.
12:51 pm on October 27th, 2008
Agreed. The mother did everything in her power to make everyone aware of how important it was to keep the medication accessible.
1:00 pm on October 27th, 2008
So true! Why is that? The child is not allowed to carry medication on him, yet the school is not responsible for getting him the medication that he needs so desperately? How is this okay?
1:04 pm on October 27th, 2008
Well, right there is the Catch-22 in all of this. Schools don’t want to be responsible BECAUSE they become victims of frivolous lawsuits with giant punitive damages.
If this lawsuit is successful, and Trenton’s mother wins a large sum of money…what do you think schools will do next? I can tell you what they wont do. They wont come to any type of agreement with a child with asthma about making sure their medications are nearby.
My guess would be that until the zero drug laws are laxed, teachers will not like to be held responsible for a child’s life because the school they work for doesn’t allow a kid, prone to have asthma attacks, to posses his inhaler. God knows I wouldn’t.
1:05 pm on October 27th, 2008
Dumb asses. Why didn’t the nurse give him his inhaler?
I don’t see the point of having a school nurse. My son texted me from school last week and asked me to call the nurse so he could have tylenol because his mouth hurt. He had just gotten braces the day before. I called the school and was informed that they couldn’t give him tylenol/asprin. I asked why because I knew at some point I had signed something saying that was ok. I was told that the nurse isn’t allowed to do that (give medicine). I asked ”well what is the point of having a school nurse and paying her probably $45,000 a year or more if she can’t even give asprin?”. The secretary said well we do have some kids that get sick and come to the nurses office…I said “well whats the point if she can’t give medicine…what does she do.. call the parents to come get them?” The secretary said..”well..um..yes”. So basically my tax dollars are going to pay a nurse that for the most part doesn’t do anything. I had to drive to the damn school and get him out of class so I could give him a tylenol. I assure you the next day he had 2 tylenol in his pocket (he’s in high school)…
1:19 pm on October 27th, 2008
Yes, and it’s another reason to sue the highest-up level possible. A lawsuit against some teacher who is making relative peanuts not only won’t get any decent remuneration, it also won’t get any laws changed to prevent such needless deaths from happening.
1:34 pm on October 27th, 2008
I hear ya- and can’t deny that you are correct. It is a catch 22 and that is the saddest part of all.
1:34 pm on October 27th, 2008
The problem is that so much is mandated federally. Not drug policies, per se – but funding based on the policies a school establishes. There is definitely funding tied to the adoption of zero-tolerance policies. This case, like so many others, is the indirect result of one-size-fits-all policy-making. For liability’s sake and to be in accordance with federal standards, school districts create the broad, sweeping policies that simply don’t allow for uncommon situations like this one.
We’re talking about policies so draconian that they have resulted in the strip-searching of elementary aged children.
I believe she will win, but I don’t think it will make a dent in policy. The feds are so rabid about drug use, they’ve knowingly committed themselves to overreaction. In their minds, this kid’s life is worth all the other lives they think they’re saving.
2:26 pm on October 27th, 2008
In my eyes, this child’s mother did all she could do to make certain that her son would receive the medical attention he required. Going as far as to meet with the staff, directing them on what to do in this type of event, handing the inhalers& the rest of his meds, and they still dropped the ball? Ask yourself this. Had this been the teacher’s child, would she notify the nurse or administer his inhaler? I think that he or she would have administered the inhaler themself.
I think that she has a very good case, but then again I am not a lawyer.
3:44 pm on October 27th, 2008
I doubt anyone signed anything other than allowing the medication on school property, to be administered if needed. I can’t see anyone with the siltiest intelligence signing a contract making them responsible for this child’s life. The problem with this wonderful country is to many lawsuits and to much finger pointing as is. If someone is legally responsible for this child’s death the law should deal with it. There are other ways to deal with changing the system, lawsuits are not the answer
4:18 pm on October 27th, 2008
This situation sounds more like a school board policy rule; as opposed to state law. Also, the onus falls upon the shoulders of the principal to have informed the parent of a sea-change of the contractual agreement between them. As such, (IMHO) the county school district becomes liable for damages due to the incompetance of their employed school officials in not insuring the safety of this child. Sue ‘em, do it jointly and severally.
I’m appalled by the callousness of the school board in general… wonderful CYA statement.
I’m asthmatic, and must carry an inhaler EVERYWHERE, he should have been able to, also.
My heart goes out to that mother… all she wanted was her child to receive an education, not a death akin to drowning.
4:33 pm on October 27th, 2008
The federal government should get the FUCK out of public education. It is a community issue, and mentioned NOWHERE in the US Constitution under Federal Powers. It is because of these inane and poorly thought out policies that straight-jacket our public schools that I will be homeschooling every one of my children. I am a product of public schools, and I graduated in ‘98 from a rural school district in Northeast Ohio. In elementary school, if I had a headache, I could go to the nurse and get some Tylenol. In middle school, I could carry my own Midol in my backpack. In high school, I could keep any necessary medicine in my locker because A) there was TRUST among parents/students/teachers/administrators and B) there was still COMMON SENSE. The trust and common sense have essentially been stripped away by short-sighted, reactionary lawmakers with only voters to please and not a whiff of care about the results of their failed policies so long as their votes are retained!! So if things have changed that much in just 10 years, then hell if I’m sending my kid into the jaws of a system of death and redundancy run by people PAID NOT TO HAVE AND USE A BRAIN (also known as lawmakers). Argh!!
4:39 pm on October 27th, 2008
I heard this on the news when the story broke, and it just about broke my heart for this mother.
My kid has very mild asthma, and even that has been enough to be scary on occasion. My kid’s best friend is a little boy with severe asthma, as well as a couple of life-threatening food allergies. After meeting and speaking to his mother about the prep work she did with the school staff, I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it’s like for her to kiss him goodbye and put him on the schoolbus each and every day. So many things can go wrong and cause sudden death for him.
I am not a litigious person. I think the rush to litigation in this society is counterproductive. But I have to say, I understand this mom’s suit. It won’t bring her son back, and it won’t make everything all better, but it may bring additional attention to the issue, and it may change the behavior at the school and save some other child.
Trenton’s mom did everything humanly possible to make sure that her child would be safe in his school. She crossed her i’s and dotted her t’s, and she sent him to school confident that the people she was entrusting with his care each day would take his condition seriously and care for him as she would. They violated that trust and cost her son his life.
Rest in peace, gorgeous little one. My heartfelt sympathy to the mom. Mom, you’re a role model, and I’m sure you were your little guy’s hero. I wish all parents worked so hard to protect their children from harm.
7:52 pm on October 27th, 2008
Bottom line: if the state is mandating that a child with a chronic condition is required to attend school, the school has to make the provision for the child. The teacher should’ve had the medication on hand to administer when the child needed it. I agree with the mother’s decision to sue: if nothing else it would help draw attention to the fact that the asthma medication needs to be kept with the asthmatic child it belongs to.
8:15 pm on October 27th, 2008
Everyone voices an opinion without the facts of the case. This is what I heard after the incident: Trenton had JUST received his daily treatment at the clinic. He played briefly (recess is less than 30 min and they use the first part for treatments). He told his teacher that he did not feel good. I don’t believe he had any symptoms of an asthma attack at that point. The teacher was walking him to clinic when he collapsed. Rescue was immediately called and he was administered treatment by the nurse in the hall before the rescue arrived.
As far as the teacher having the inhaler on her, I’m not 100% that she was allowed to do this. It is my understanding that it is an act of congress to have teachers carry medications and I don’t think they are allowed to administer them at all. I’ve heard that kids can administer them after given approval by doctors, school board, etc. Just because his mother talked to the school and signed paperwork doesn’t mean that the teacher was supposed to have the meds on her. And, like I said before, I heard that his symptoms were more like a stomache ache, not trouble breathing.
Unless you have children at OPE, you have no idea how great this teacher is. The reason she had Trenton and other students with medical problems is because she is the most attentive teacher at the school and is requested. She is constantly given high risk students because she is such an incredibly caring and thorough teacher.
IF the Stokes family wins this lawsuit, I hope that teachers in the future will be given the right to deny taking these high risk children in their classrooms. It is not fair for a teacher with 18 students to have 2 or 3 of them with life threatening illnesses. Like in this teacher’s case-she’s constantly requested for high risk children. You can’t stick 3-4 parapalegics in a classroom and expect her to be responsible for them. The same goes for these medical conditions. The child needs to be home schooled, have parents accompany them to school, assigned a nurse or have a special school where they can have medication readily available. It’s not fair to put this much responsibility on a teacher.
We’ll see when the facts come out who was really responsible and what REALLY happened. Everyone is basing their opinion on what the family attorney has put out there. What is he going to say? I don’t put it past a jury to award money regardless. A child died and it was very tragic. We all mourned for this family. However, it may have been a tragic accident, not necessarily a negligent act.
10:20 pm on October 27th, 2008
Boy, I have a ton to say here, but I’ll limit myself because I should.
Zero tolerance policies suck. They essentially constitute written permission to stop thinking. Stashed a Midol in your pocket as you headed out the door this morning? Mom put a plastic knife in your lunch bucket so you could cut your peach? Called a kid a name after he threatened to put your dog in an oven and burn it alive? Took a swing at the jock who elbowed you into the lockers for the thousandth time this year? We don’t tolerate that. You’re expelled. That’s it. End of story. Makes it all very simple for school administrators to manage, doesn’t it? They don’t have to listen, hear or think.
Example: my daughter wore fairy wings to school one day. She was 13. She liked to spread cheer.
She was a happy-go-lucky kid with good grades and a great attitude. Teachers loved her. Students loved her. (All still true at 21, although now she’s less fairy and more activist hippie on the campus of MSU). But she walked into the office to pay for her yearbook and oops! She was violating the zero tolerance policy for “causing a distraction with dress”. The cranky office lady just simply couldn’t tolerate the fairy wings. True to policy, a detention was issued in spite of the fact that no one had complained, no one had rioted, no one had even fallen off task due to the fairy wings. Probably the only thing the fairy wings caused was a smile. Certainly worth a detention. Whatever.
Point being, if we don’t have to think in our schools, where DO we have to think? As it applies to this case, seems clear to me that if a more thoughtful policy were in place regarding dispensation of medication at school (i.e. asthmatic students should have reasonable access to their inhalers at all times throughout the day, as they probably would if they were not in a school setting) we wouldn’t see these tragic cases. And we wouldn’t have 17 year old girls being expelled from school for sticking a Midol in their pocket as they headed out the door in the morning. Crazy ass world.
10:30 pm on October 27th, 2008
If the teacher was not allowed to carry or administer the inhaler, and the mother was not informed of such, that alone is negligence on the school’s part. She signed the paperwork and informed everyone. If there was something more that the mother should’ve done to ensure that his meds were readily accessible (other than everything she’d done already), she should’ve been told that she needed to do so.
Period.
I got a call from my son the other day because he had a pencil shaving in his eye and couldn’t get it out. I told him to ask the school nurse to help him get it out, and it turned out that she wasn’t even there that day, and in fact, wasn’t going to be there at all. Just a pencil shaving mind you, but still ridiculous that the one person who was paid to aid in such instances wasn’t there, and that they didn’t have a back up come in. I also have another son with asthma. Other than providing his inhaler, informing the teachers and the school, and signing the proper forms, I’ve personally never been told by the school that I had to do anything more than that to ensure his safety. My son doesn’t have to take daily breathing treatments, and isn’t probably considered to be “high risk”. He hasn’t had an attack in a year and a half. However, if he suddenly has an attack tomorrow and the damn nurse isn’t there, he could die if they have to keep it locked up and somebody has to dig around for a key to get it out.
These laws need to change. That fact remains no matter how you feel about this particular case or who you know.
As far as that whole teacher’s right to refuse goes, most parents work to support their families and can’t homeschool or afford private school. That being the case, my kids have to go to public school or my ass ends up in jail. If a personal nurse is required jsut because folks like you don’t want to change the laws and because the teachers and schools don’t want to take take responsibility or make the medicines more accessible, the schools need to pay for it. It be a hell of a lot cheaper to get the Feds to butt out and make some policy changes up in here, IMO.
11:28 pm on October 27th, 2008
More and more schools don’t even have a school nurse in every day. One of those areas to cut under budget restraints.
I was asthmatic as a kid, and as Omalley has experienced, some people don’t take it very seriously. Heck, as a kid, *I* didn’t take it that seriously. I don’t think anyone had ever sat me down and said, hey, you know asthma can kill you without warning? I think a lot of people put it in a chronic category, like hayfever, without the awareness that even if you have issues with it every day, or only a couple times a year, one of those times it can just turn out deadly for no particularly obvious reason at all.
I was in school years ago, but they still had a policy, just like they do now, of no drugs carried by students. My mother took issue with it, and insisted my inhaler be carried, since it wouldn’t do anyone any good anywhere else if I were alone in a stairwell on the other side of the school. With a serious attack, you can count the seconds you have where you can still get the medication from an inhaler into your lungs. These were the days before effective daily treatments to control asthma, so regular rescue inhaler use was typical. The big difference was, in those days, they said, sure, she can carry the inhaler, that only makes sense, regardless of that the written policy said. I wasn’t the only one carrying one either. The policy hasn’t actually changed, only the attitude and flexibility shown over it has.
I think the attitude and flexibility has changed in part because of liability issues. No one wants to be responsible for making rational decisions independent of policy to then be held liable for them. So here is where to lawsuit makes sense – inflict greater liability on school districts for sticking blindly with policy, rather than making decisions that make sense for each student. Obviously the teacher isn’t the big responsible party here (I’m sure she is great.) It was clearly not part of their school policy that students medications get toted with them everywhere they go like the lunchroom or playground, and that’s where policy failed this boy. Every student who is prescribed a rescue inhaler or epi-pen should have the option of carrying them on their person as well as held with the teacher – these are crucial life saving drugs that need administered with strict time constraints for unexpected and potentially fatal health events. I wish them the best with their lawsuit, and hope it moves their school district into taking asthmatic kids more seriously, and treating them more rationally.
12:03 am on October 28th, 2008
Was the mother made aware of this?
5:18 am on October 28th, 2008
First and utmost, my sincere deepest sympathy to the family. So sorry for your loss….
In reading the story I truly feel that the school failed little Trenton and his entire family… I feel even after a year
FILE THE LAWSUIT, FOR SURE, this will open up eyes all around the schools, that little boy should have been taken care of IMMEDIATELY there truly is NO Excuses for the teacher not having his medication he should have been taken care of right then and there, no sending him anywhere. You need to file and you need to win, which we all know wo’nt bring trenton back but it is the responsibility of the officials in this case who need to pay for his death and the mom even took the necessary steps first before school to discuss and meet with officials regarding her sons problem. WIth no doubt, file the lawsuit. Again i am sorry for Trenton’s death, so sad
11:12 am on October 28th, 2008
Just about everyone here has voiced an opinion about school POLICY, not the teacher herself. Are you suggesting that policy is not an issue at this school? Is it a good policy to not allow asthmatic children to carry their own inhaler, in your opinion?
11:13 am on October 28th, 2008
I can’t believe everyone’s complaining about the teachers and school nurse and at the same time screaming lawsuit
THE REASON THEY CAN’T MEDICATE OF YOUR CHILDREN IS BECAUSE OF LAWSUITS it’s because of lawsuit happy people they’ve had to come up with these rules. Also if you can’t follow a simple dress code; need to attract attention to yourself, create giggling in the classroom you should be sent home, you’re interfering with my child’s education. My son has asthma, he had an attack yesterday, I got a call from the school as I was reading this. Because of lawsuit happy people he’s not allowed to have his breathalyzer at school, had to run to his school get him and get him home. It’s because of lawsuit happy people, we’re in the current situation it’s of fear of lawsuits. Because of people that feel school is a place for, free babysitting, self gratification and freedom of expression instead of learning responsibilities and getting an education, and not interfering with others getting an education.
What happened here is a terrible tragedy, that may not have been prevented at home. But it’s because of all the lawsuits you’re not allowed medication at school without filling out wavers and there’s still restrictions, to protect the school from LAWSUITS
11:29 am on October 28th, 2008
Well, that is not entirely true. Yes, schools have placed them in certain positions and adopted policies to protect themselves from lawsuits (which has been brought up more than once in these comments) but Federal zero-tolerance laws are more to blame than any type of lawsuits for why your kid cannot hold his inhaler and I have to drive to school to give my kid an aspirin…as Athena has already pointed out as well.
11:33 am on October 28th, 2008
I agree federal zero tolerance is over the top, it’s the hit the mosquito with a sludge hammer mentality
5:23 pm on October 28th, 2008
“Also if you can’t follow a simple dress code; need to attract attention to yourself, create giggling in the classroom you should be sent home, you’re interfering with my child’s education.”
Actually, she’s more the shy type. Never one for drama. The kind of girl who grows up to be a quiet contributor to her community, without fanfare. Like starting the local chapter of Amnesty International youth club (grand total of 12 members in a school of 2000 students), and raising money for local women’s shelters and whatnot. And bringing home wayward peers like lost puppies. You know, so she could feed them.
She probably didn’t read the part in the dress code that said “no fairy wings.” She bad.
Heading to yoga. Namaste.
6:06 pm on October 28th, 2008
I didn’t even notice that. Yeah – if a kid is so easily distracted that fairy wings are enough to do the job, they’re the one with the problem, not the fairy wing wearer.
In a situation like that, it seems reasonable to let the student know that, to avoid a potential distraction, she should place her wings in her locker or backpack and whathaveyou. Sending her home would be draconian. Wings are removable, are they not?
9:02 pm on October 28th, 2008
Well, her’s were not, but I quickly drove to the school and performed a wingectomy like no other.
Yes, her principal (with a smile on his face) asked her to remove her wings (they were small – attached to her back with little safety pins) because the office lady had “told on her”, and she complied without complaint or whining of any sort, as any good little fairy would. She served her after-school detention without incident, never to wear her wings again. Sadly.
And that’s when I decided to hate the zero tolerance policy.
The End
Now that I think about it, Biteme sort of proved my point by immediately assuming the fairy wing wearing 13 year old, was up to no good and needed to be disciplined to the fullest extent permitted under the zero tolerance policy. No reason to think about it or explore the other possibilities – like the fairy wing wearing 13 year old was just a cute little girl who thought the wings were cute and she liked them, so…
The End again.
9:28 pm on October 28th, 2008
Fairy wings aren’t generally accepted as a routine sort of accessory? Clearly my peer group has warped my sensibilities.
11:16 am on October 29th, 2008
I’m sure you have a wonderful child.
My response was directed more toward parents & direction
One of my children has been collecting/distrebuting clothes for a homeless shelter for 3 years now among other things I’m very proud of. Another has been donating over 100hrs a year to a community non profit program. It has nothing to do with me as a parent allowing them to go to school and be a distraction in class. In my home you go to school for an education, you follow the rules, respect the teachers/students and you don’t disrupt the class. For your child to want to ware wings to school was cute, I disagree with your approval. I wouldn’t necessarily expect her or my children to know what’s acceptable to ware in school without some parental direction
enjoy the yoga
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