Your Child's Asthma and Your School

Know the Law

In 1996, a court found the school's principal, guidance counselor, and the Orleans Parish school board negligent in the death of an 18-year old New Orleans schoolgirl, according to a report in the May 29, 1996, issue of Education Week. Catrina Lewis died when a call to 911 was delayed because of efforts by the school counselor to contact her mother, as directed by the principal. Lewis alerted a school security guard when her inhaler was ineffectual in controlling her asthma attack. The guard immediately contacted the school principal who said that the girl’s mother had to be called (in his testimony he said he did not mean for her to be called first, but to be contacted about the situation.) The school counselor tried unsuccessfully to reach Lewis’ mother, and after 34 minutes it was the girl’s younger sister who eventually called 911.

The judge found that the principal and counselor violated a state law stating that school officials have a duty to provide emergency medical care when a student requests it, and found the school board negligent in both failing to provide adequate training for its employees, and in failing to have a clear policy on medical emergencies. The judge ordered the insurance companies for the two school officials to pay $1.4 million in damages to Ms. Lewis' mother and two sisters, and the school board to pay $200,000.

In 2002, a California jury unanimously awarded $9 million in damages (later reduced to $2.225 million on appeal) to a mother after the death of her 11-year old son from an asthma attack at school. The school district was found guilty of negligence for failing to warn parents of an unwritten school policy that would have allowed the boy to carry an inhaler with him. Due to a written school policy stating that all medications must be stored in a specific place at the school, Phillip Gonzalez and his mother understood that he was not permitted to carry his inhaler. The school district contended that the regulation did not preclude a student from carrying necessary medication if certified necessary by a physician. However, in her testimony, Phillip’s mother pointed out that the physician’s authorization form supplied by the school does not have a space for a doctor to indicate that the student should carry and/or administer his or her own medication. The court ruled that the district was liable for negligence due to the fact that the policy requiring medications to be stored at school was written but the exception was not (Health and Health Care, 2002.) Twenty-one states currently have statewide policies or laws giving students the right to carry and use asthma inhalers at school.

Some Uncertainties

Attorney Maurice Watson points out that in terms of air quality issues, schools are not covered by Occupational Safety Health Administration (OSHA) standards, and it is uncertain what the legal obligations might be in the future.

Mold in schools is emerging as a big problem for school districts. Many schools across the country have been closed for days, weeks and in some cases permanently, due to mold. And dozens of lawsuits have been filed already by teachers. The whole school district pays in such cases: students often have to be accommodated on other campuses, repairs are expensive and public (especially if the school is closed down), and someone may have to foot the illness compensation bill.