An incident in Matthew’s nut-free classroom today got me thinking about the school policies designed to keep my son and other peanut allergy children safe. I’m the first to admit that our teachers and administration do a great job making sure Matthew is not exposed to peanut products, but the reality is they have many students to deal with in such a short time frame.

Many schools around the nation face continual budget cuts, overcrowding and fewer volunteers able to pitch in. The last thing our teachers probably need to deal with is a life-threatening health condition like peanut allergies; to add to the burden, they must also contend with parents of non-allergic children who forget – or dare I say don’t care? – about following the no-nut policy.

Here are some classroom guidelines and policy tips that I think peanut allergy families and schools should discuss:

• Are all teachers, assistants, volunteers, substitutes and students aware and educated about food allergies?

• Has the school or teacher notified the class families their child is in a no-nut classroom?

• Is there an established list of allowable foods for classroom parties and celebrations?

• Are lunch helpers and class volunteers aware of what a peanut allergy is?

• Do all the teachers, assistants, volunteers and substitutes know where the Epi-Pens are located and how to use?

• Can the teachers, assistants, volunteers and substitutes recognize terms that indicate the presence of peanuts?

Terms that indicate the presence of peanut protein:

            • African, Chinese, Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese dishes
            • Baked goods
            • Beer nuts
            • Chocolate (candies, candy bars)
            • Cold pressed, expelled or extruded peanut oil
            • Egg rolls
            • Ground nuts
            • Hydrolyzed plant protein
            • Mixed nuts
            • Monkey nuts
            • Nu-Nuts
            • Nut pieces
            • Peanuts
            • Peanut butter
            • Peanut Flour