To determine whether unlicensed school personnel may administer prescription medications such as insulin, we first consult the body of law that expressly purports to answer the question: Education Code section 49423 and its implementing regulations. (All further undesignated citations to statutes are to this code.) The statute declares the basic law: “[A]ny pupil who is required to take, during the regular schoolday, medication prescribed for him or her by a physician and surgeon . . . may be assisted by the school nurse or other designated school personnel . . . .” (§ 49423, subd. (a), italics added.) The same statute ensures that medications are administered only in accordance with medical orders and parental consent: “In order for a pupil to be assisted by a school nurse or other designated school personnel pursuant to subdivision (a), the school district shall obtain both a written statement from the physician . . . detailing the name of the medication, method, amount, and time schedules by which the medication is to be taken and a written statement from the parent, foster parent or guardian of the pupil indicating the desire that the school district assist the pupil in the matters set forth in the statement of the physician . . . .” (Id., subd. (b), italics added.) Section 49423 expressly applies “[n]otwithstanding section 49422,” which provides more generally that only licensed health care providers may be “permitted to supervise the health and physical development of pupils” (§ 49422, subd. (a)). In adopting section 49423, the Legislature repealed and reenacted former section 11753.1. (Stats. 1968, ch. 681, § 1, p. 1378, repealed and reenacted as § 49423 by Stats. 1976, ch. 1010, § 2, p. 3615.) The Legislature’s reason for authorizing school personnel to administer medications, according to the original statutes legislative history, was to avoid requiring children “to leave school during the day for necessary medication” or compelling their parents “to pay
Chapter 23 – Provision of Healthcare Services, Charter SELPA As of 09/08/2017 CAHELP Governance Council Approved
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