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Parent urges board to let medically complex students join extracurricular trips despite nursing-policy limits
Summary
Krista Childers, an educator and parent, told the board her daughter Reese, a statewide sticker-contest winner with epilepsy, was denied participation on an overnight National Junior Honor Society trip because the district will not provide nursing services for extracurricular activities; she asked the board to review policy and 504 implementation.
Krista Childers, an educator in Raleigh County, told the board that her 14-year-old daughter, Reese, will be unable to attend a National Junior Honor Society overnight trip because district policy excludes nursing services for extracurricular activities. "No one should be able to tell me that I can't do something because I have a disability," Childers said, urging the board to review how the district applies 504 accommodations to nonacademic events.
Childers described Reese as a high-achieving student and the county’s recently recognized statewide "I Voted" sticker winner and said Reese has a 504 plan and carries emergency seizure medication that a trained professional must give if a seizure lasts longer than four minutes. Childers said she had been offered the opportunity to chaperone but cannot due to work and family constraints, and that parents cannot reasonably be required to provide medical administration for such emergencies.
Board members asked clarifying questions about whether a parent could serve as chaperone and about the legal limits of 504 plans. Childers responded that her reading of the 504 guidance suggests a parent cannot be required to serve as the student's medical manager and asked the board to "do your research" into the standard that led to removing nursing services for extracurricular trips.
The board did not take immediate formal action during the meeting; the district’s staff and superintendent discussed the legal and operational complexities, including liability and staffing, but no change in policy was announced. The meeting transcript records a follow-up offer by a board member to discuss the issue further; no formal vote or directive was recorded by the end of the session.
The board received the public comment as part of the non-agenda public comment period. Next steps were not specified; the parent provided a written copy of her remarks and highlighted portions of the 504 parental guide for the board’s consideration.
