TRAINING AND RESOURCES FOR SCHOOL EMPLOYEES WORKING WITH MEDICALLY FRAGILE CHILDREN

WHEREAS, the number of students in classrooms who can be designated medically fragile has increased by more than 17 percent in the last 10 years, and those numbers will continue to rise as the mandate of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are fully implemented in the schools; and

WHEREAS, the facilities that have in the past provided educational services for special-needs students, including those identified as medically fragile children, usually had full-time, on-site, trained health care providers; and

WHEREAS, as special-needs students have been moved into traditional classrooms, these health care providers have frequently been laid off rather than transferred to these settings; and

WHEREAS, this loss of health care personnel has forced more and more untrained school personnel to take on responsibility for providing health/medical services; and

WHEREAS, the provision of health/medical services legally falls within the scope of the school health professional employed by or assigned to a facility, unless he/she has delegated that task to a person he/she has trained to perform the procedure/service:

RESOLVED, that the AFT continue to disseminate information to local and state federations about the legal rights and responsibilities of all school employees with regard to provision of medical services; and

RESOLVED, that AFT locals work to educate policy makers and the general public about the need to increase the numbers of school health personnel so that educational personnel will not be required to perform medical/health procedures: and

RESOLVED, that AFT locals work to guarantee appropriate training for all personnel who may want to take on that responsibility and are delegated the task of providing health/medical services to students; and

RESOLVED, that AFT locals work with state federations to enact legislation that will increase the number of school health professionals, mandate appropriate training standards and provide funding for necessary equipment to ensure a safe and healthy environment for students and employees.