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Medication Guidelines

Essential Information for Parents

For our Nursing team to safely administer medication to your child, it's important to be aware of the following guidelines:

  1. Compliance with Doctor's Orders: Nurses are required by law to follow a doctor's instructions when giving any medication.

  2. Required Documentation: Specific documents must be on file with our Nursing team before any medication can be administered.

  3. Annual Form Submission: New forms must be submitted at the start of each school year to ensure compliance and safety.

By adhering to these guidelines, you can help us provide the highest standard of care for your child.

  1. Prescription medications, including over-the-counter (OTC) medications prescribed by an authorized licensed provider, will be given at school only with a licensed provider's order and parent signature (A-Form). The signed permission must be on file with the School Nurse and is valid for the period specified on the form or expires at the end of the current school year. An A-Form may be extended for summer camp with parent approval. 
     
  2. Students are not allowed to transport medicine (prescription or OTC) to or from school on their person or in their personal belongings. 
     
  3. A parent/guardian must provide the medication in the original container with a current prescription label attached to the School Nurse, bus driver, or car line attendant. If you anticipate that your child will need to take a medicine at school, you may ask your pharmacist for two prescription bottles. You can keep one at home with enough medicine to give on the weekends, and send the other to school. 
     
  4. Please note that DPH regulations prohibit schools from keeping more than a 30-day supply of medication at a time. Please plan to provide a one-month supply and plan refills accordingly. 
     
  5. Asthma inhalers will be kept in the school health room or with trained staff if the student leaves the building. The inhaler must be provided in the manufacturer's box with a current prescription label attached. The student will be allowed to use the inhaler, with nurse or trained staff's supervision, as instructed by the licensed provider. If other arrangements are needed, please contact the School Nurse. 
     
  6. It is extremely important that you contact Nursing before sending a prescription to school for the first time. A completed A-Form must be on file prior to starting the medication at school. 
     
  7. The first dose of a medication that your child has never taken before must be given at home, so that you can monitor your child for any negative reaction to it. 

8. Emergency medications such as diazepam, epinephrine auto-injectors, glucagon, insulin, etc., must have a completed A-Form on file in Nursing.

If your child has been prescribed an epinephrine pen or seizure rescue medication, it must be provided to the designated school staff only: nurse, bus staff, car line attendant. The student may not ride a bus or be on campus without their emergency medicine. 

9. The school stocks a limited supply of OTC medications that may be administered by the School Nurse to students with written parental consent. The parent/guardian must, on an annual basis, designate permission for each medication on the registration Health Form, and the B-Form. 

Parents/guardians may provide any needed over-the-counter medications not provided by the School District with written consent. And OTC medication must be provided in the original, unopened packaging labeled with the student's name. 

10. OTC medications may only be given as indicated by the manufacturer on the label directions and/or package insert. Any request for a medication dosage that exceeds the recommendations, must be provided with a written order from the child's licensed provider. (A-Form)

11. Herbal medicines, food supplements, alternative medicinal products, and other items that do not have FDA approval require a written order from an authorized licensed provider. (A-Form).

12. Each school maintains epinephrine auto-injectors in junior and adult strengths. School Nurses and other designated personnel may administer an epinephrine auto-injector to a student or other individual on school premises who is experiencing anaphylaxis. 

13. A Medical Release to Return to School, and clearance by Nursing, is required for your child's return to school following a procedure, surgery, ER visit, or hospitalization. This allows our staff time to make arrangements to meet your child's needs before they return. 

Contact your child's school nurse, or the clinic after school hours or after 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, regarding any planned or emergency events. 

Two women present at a podium during an %22Emergency Medication Training%22 session. A large screen behind them lists topics like anaphylaxis, seizures, EpiPens, and asthma. One woman is signing in ASL.