ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 7, 1997 TAG: 9701070064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
High school students in Roanoke County, be warned.
Make sure you don't go to school with a box of cough drops or a bottle of aspirin in your pocket or purse - even if you have written permission from your parents to take the medication.
Under the county's proposed policy, high school students are permitted to bring only a one-day supply of a nonprescription drug to school - and written permission from their parents.
LaVern Davis, school health coordinator, said Monday that the restriction is designed to prevent students from sharing medication with friends or abusing it.
"You read about cases where students have shared medication with friends," Davis said. "We want to prevent that from happening."
A student who brought a full bottle of an over-the-counter medication to school would be violating the policy, she said.
The revised policy does not specify penalties for violations, but school officials could take disciplinary action.
The School Board is expected to consider the restriction this month.
Roanoke and Salem treat prescription and nonprescription medications alike and prohibit students from self-administering either.
The county prohibits all students from self-administering prescription drugs - and prevents elementary and middle school students from taking over-the-counter drugs without supervision.
The county's policy revisions contain several safeguards to protect students and school personnel in the dispensing of medications. They are designed to prevent an incident such as a recent one when Dawn Matney, a parent, said she observed several students taking their prescription medication from a cabinet without supervision by Northside Middle School officials.
While a school secretary was on the phone, Matney said, several students "had the file cabinet opened [and were] getting their medicine or anyone's medicine out and taking it."
Davis said the incident apparently occurred because the staff person responsible for supervising the distribution of medications was absent that day. "It seems to have been an isolated incident," she said.
Under the county's old policy, nonprescription medications could be administered only with the permission of both physicians and parents. The revised policy requires only the parents' permission.
Under the revised policy, each principal shall designate a staff person to give medications to students. The person must not be assigned other duties when administering medications. The staff person must observe the student taking the medication.
All prescription drugs shall be administered by the designated person. Students may get medication from their containers without supervision.
The school is required to maintain a log for each child who receives medications. Each dose must be documented.
Parents or guardians must deliver the medication to the school in the original, labeled pharmacy container. The pills shall be counted by the parent and school staff when brought to the school and documented on the medication log.
LENGTH: Medium: 63 linesby CNB