Parents to School: Boot Girl With Peanut Allergy

Floridians angered by regulations to keep 6-year-old alive
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 22, 2011 12:06 PM CDT
Parents to School: Boot Girl With Peanut Allergy
Parents of Florida students want a 6-year-old allergic to peanuts to be sent home.   (Shutterstock)

A 6-year-old in Florida suffers from a peanut allergy so severe and life-threatening it's considered a disability—but the parents of her classmates aren’t exactly showering her with sympathy. Instead, they’re demanding she be booted from the class and home-schooled because of the nuisance she’s causing to their own children, Jezebel reports. They’re frustrated that their kids are required to wash up and rinse their mouths before entering the room; desks must be cleaned with Clorox wipes; and snacking is banned from the classroom.

“It's probably taking a good 30 minutes out of the day. That's my child's education,” says one parent. But school authorities point out that sending the legally disabled girl home is simply “not an option” under federal law. The girl’s father notes that his daughter is “already a cast-out.” Opines Jezebel's Margaret Hartmann, instead of "teaching their kids that it's important to help their classmate," other parents are "sending the message that it's okay to ostracize and harass people with disabilities." (More peanut allergy stories.)

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