Parent tells Winona school board ER-prescribed medication rules left family in “catch-22”

A parent told the Winona Area Public Schools board that the district’s process for approving and administering emergency-room prescriptions at school created a “catch-22” that prevented their child from receiving prescribed medication during the school day.

The parent, identified in the meeting transcript as a resident and parent, said their child was prescribed medication after an ER visit over the weekend and that the family brought the paperwork to the school health office on Monday. According to the parent, health-office staff told them the doctor must sign the form, but the ER’s rotating weekend coverage made it difficult to obtain an immediate signature. The parent said the paperwork was then returned in the child’s backpack for the district nurse to review but that the nurse “won’t be in the rest of the week” and would not approve medication without receiving the medication itself.

“That was a catch 22,” the parent said. “You can’t have the meds here without the replacement, but they need the meds here to give the approval. So what do you do? It’s very irritating, and I don’t really wanna do this every day of the week for the next several weeks.” The parent added, “There’s gotta be a better way.”

Why it matters: School medication policies affect student safety and family logistics, and problems or ambiguities can create daily burdens on families and on school nurses. The parent asked the board and district leadership to review the procedures and consider changes to avoid repeated daily drop-offs.

Details and context: The parent said that while the health secretary saw the paperwork, because the nurse was not present the form could not be approved and the meds could not legally remain at school without that approval. The family reported making multiple trips to campus to provide the noon doses while the approvals were pending.

Meeting placement: The remarks occurred during the public comment portion of the board meeting and were recorded in the public-comments segment of the transcript. The parent asked the board or superintendent to investigate options to reduce the paperwork loop and staff-availability problem.

Next steps noted in the meeting: The parent asked the board and administration to “look into this” and recommended the district review the procedure to avoid placing parents in that position. The board did not announce immediate action during the meeting; the request was recorded as a public comment for board follow-up.

Ending: The parent closed by asking the board to “look into this and can something be done differently,” and thanked the board for hearing the concern.