school personnel may administer medication to pupils . . . as allowed by law .” ( Id ., subd. (a), italics added.) Similarly, section 601 limits such “ ‘[o]ther designated school personnel’ ” to those who “[ m ] ay legally administer the medication to the pupil . . . .” ( Id ., subd. (e)(2), italics added.) The Nurses contend the italicized language means that only those school personnel who are licensed health care providers, such as registered nurses, may administer medications, and that unlicensed personnel may assist but not actually administer medications. By way of illustration, the Nurses assert that unlicensed school personnel “are permitted to open a bottle of cough syrup and pour the prescribed dose but cannot pour it down the student’s throat,” or they may monitor a diabetic student’s glucose levels and determine the correct dosage of insulin but may not administer the drug by giving the injection or pushing the button on an insulin pump. The Nurses have misinterpreted the regulations. Before explaining that conclusion, however, and in order to clarify the scope of our holding, we note that one significant premise of the Nurses’ argument is correct: There is no reason to believe the Legislature intended to delegate to the Board, a state educational agency charged with governing the public schools (see §§ 33000, 33031), any authority to override statutes in which the Legislature has required specific licensure before a person may perform a health care function. We assume the Board shares this understanding. In section 610 of title 5, the Board explains that “[n]othing in this article may be interpreted as . . . affecting in any way: [¶] (a) The statutes, regulations, or standards of practice governing any health care professional licensed by the State of California in the carrying out of activities authorized by the license . . . .” Viewed in this light, the language in the Board’s regulations that qualifies the authority of unlicensed school personnel to administer medications — “as allowed by law” (tit. 5, § 604, subd. (a); see also id., § 601, subd. (e)(2)) — is
Chapter 23 – Provision of Healthcare Services, Charter SELPA As of 09/08/2017 CAHELP Governance Council Approved
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