allergies and school canteen - help?!

[Debra]

Our son started college in September and we filled out the usual

paperwork regarding any illness or allergies: the same form we have previously

filled in for him in primaire; first at the school he attended for CP-CE2 and

then at the school he attended for CM1-2.  

At the first school, the procedure was that they asked that

we take him to the doctor to have him tested to prove that he is allergic to

what we said he was and also to discover any other allergies.  He was sent to a specialist, who tested for

what we said he was allergic to plus a couple of other common allergens.  A list was produced and sent to the doctor,

who prescribed an anti-histamine and forwarded all this information to the

school.  Up until this point, our son was

not allowed to eat at the school canteen, but once they had the confirmed list

of allergies from the doctor, they provided an allergen free diet for him,

which basically meant that if a course contained something he was allergic to,

they prepared something different for him.

At the second school, they didn’t require the doctor’s visit

but just took our word for it that he was allergic to certain things and made

sure he didn’t eat them at school and again, provided something different if

necessary.

The college have taken a long time to respond to the list of

allergies.  Firstly, our son forgot to

hand it in and noone chased him up for his paperwork, so it stayed in his

schoolbag until we discovered it two months later.  Now, another two months or more after we made

sure it was handed in, we have been called in to see the school nurse, who had

a fit that she was unaware of the allergies. 

Long discussion and heated words later – she requires that the tests are

repeated with the specialist as they should be done every year, according to

her, and that our doctor (she conceded, after at first insisting it was the

specialist) should write a prescription for the anti-histamines he needs plus a

list of every food that he is allergic to and the type of foods the allergens

may be found in and whether he can eat those foods.  One of the allergens is egg, so the reasoning

is that he may be able to eat a cake made with dried egg, for instance, or not

much egg, but not something made with lots of egg – certainly not something

like meringue.  

After all that, basically the school are covered if anything

happens – and they will make sure that our son will eat nothing containing any

of his allergens, but they won’t make any changes to the menu or make sure

something is available for him to eat.  He

cannot take a packed lunch as this is against national regulations according to

the nurse (even though the first school allowed this until testing was completed)

so basically he would have to come home for lunch or perhaps go hungry.  He is bussed to school so this would mean we

would have to collect and return him every day, which is not possible.  

Does anybody know whether this is acceptable in the French

education system, at least at college level, or if they are being unacceptably

awkward in our case?  If they are – what can

we do about it?  Who can we complain to?

[NormanH]

I imagine that you can read French quite well, so you could start by looking on

http://www.education.gouv.fr/cid90/la-restauration-au-college.html

If you are struggling send me a pm, but the interesting bit seems to me to be:

"La mise en place de "paniers repas" dans le cadre d'un

projet d'accueil individualisé doit être favorisée. La famille assure

alors la pleine responsabilité de la fourniture du repas, du

conditionnement et du transport"

In other words you can give him a packed lunch.

The basis for this is the 'texte'

http://www.education.gouv.fr/bo/2003/34/MENE0300417C.htm

Please note that when confronted with someone in an official position,

such as the nurse in your son's collège, you have to show that you know

and understand the official 'texte'

I have sent you a pm with the relevant extract

[Debra]

Thanks for that - I'll print it out and give it to the headmaster, along with a complaint!