Appendix A: California Department of Education (CDE) K.C. Settlement Agreement and Legal Advisory
Thus, section 49423 and its implementing regulations plainly establish, as the
Legislature, the Board and the Department intended, that unlicensed school personnel may
administer prescription medications. The Nurses do not contend the Board ’ s regulations are
invalid, but they do offer a variety of arguments for interpreting them other than according to
their plain meaning. None is persuasive.
1. “[A]s allowed by law.”
In permitting school personnel other than licensed health care providers to administer
medication, sections 601 and 604 of title 5 qualify that permission with language deferring to
other laws governing the subject. Specifically, sec tion 604 provides that “[o]ther designated
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
BP 2006 – Provision of Healthcare Services
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Desert Mountain Special Education Local Plan Area (DMSELPA) (rev. 11/16)
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