to the Nursing Practice Act (Bus. & Prof. Code, §§ 2725, subd. (b)(2), 2727, subd. (d)) and in a regulation concerning the administration of medication adopted by the Board (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 5, § 604). Briefly, those seven categories include: (1) students who are able to self-administer, (2) nurses and physicians employed by local education agencies, (3) other school employees who are appropriately licensed health care providers, (4) licensed nurses working pursuant to contracts with schools, (5) parents and guardians, (6) persons designated by parents or guardians who are volunteers but not school employees, and (7) trained, unlicensed school employees acting in emergencies. (2007 Legal Advisory, pt. IV.A.) The 2007 Legal Advisory also recognizes that some students cannot self-administer insulin, that licensed health care providers are not always available when needed, and that federal law does not permit schools to impose the cost of administering insulin on parents. On that basis, the Department concludes as follows: “When federal and state laws are reconciled, it is clear that it is unlawful for [a local education agency] to have a general practice or policy that asserts it need not comply with the IDEA or Section 504 rights of a student to have insulin administered at school simply because a licensed professional is unavailable. In such situations, federal rights take precedence over strict adherence to state law so that the educational and health needs of the student protected by the Section 504 Plan or IEP are met.” (2007 Legal Advisory, par. IV.C.) So concluding, the Department adds an eighth category of authorized persons, permitting insulin to be administered by a “voluntary school employee who is unlicensed but who has been adequately trained to administer insulin pursuant to the student’s treating physician’s orders as required by the Section 504 Plan or the IEP.” (2007 Legal Advisory, Checklist.) The validity of the 2007 Legal Advisory’s “category 8” is the crux of the present dispute.
Chapter 23 – Provision of Healthcare Services, Charter SELPA As of 09/08/2017 CAHELP Governance Council Approved
Page 29
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online