Serving the Medically Fragile Child in the School Setting

In 1989, the AFT heard these concerns from our members and responded by creating the Ad Hoc Committee
on Healthcare Responsibilities in Special Education. This committee was a collaborative effort of the AFT’s Educational Issues Department (AFT Teachers), AFT Nurses and Health Professionals (AFT NHP) and AFT’s Paraprofessionals and School-Related Personnel Division (AFT PSRP). The work of this committee generated the first edition of a manual titled “The Medically Fragile Child in the School Setting.” The AFT’s Task Force on Special Education continued to work on these issues, and its recommendations were incorporated in a second edition of the manual. The third edition provided members with a more in-depth review of their roles, responsibilities and rights as related to serving medically fragile children in the school setting. 

The fourth edition (2023) sets out to accomplish three goals: (1) to educate our members on their roles and responsibilities in relation to children who are medically fragile; (2) to educate our members on their rights as school employees; and (3) to outline possible solutions and protections for local unions to pursue on behalf of their members.