California - AB2640- Zacky Bill

AB 2640, as introduced, Valladares. Pupil health: food allergies: California Food Allergy Resource Guide.

Existing law requires the governing board of a school district to give diligent care to the health and physical development of pupils and authorizes the governing board of a school district to employ properly certified persons for that work. Existing law requires school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to provide emergency epinephrine auto-injectors to school nurses or trained volunteer personnel, and authorizes school nurses and trained personnel to use epinephrine auto-injectors to provide emergency medical aid to persons suffering, or reasonably believed to be suffering, from an anaphylactic reaction, as provided.

This bill would require the State Department of Education to create the California Food Allergy Resource Guide for voluntary use by school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to help protect pupils with food allergies. The bill would require the department to ensure that the guide provides practical information, planning steps, and strategies for reducing allergic reactions to food within schools and early education centers. The bill would require the guide to include specified content, including state and federal resources available to pupils with food allergies, methods for pupils to initiate individualized food allergy management and prevention plans and to obtain food ingredient lists from school food providers, and strategies to minimize the risk of food anaphylaxis in school. The bill would encourage local educational agencies to follow the guide and use it as an equitable resource to ensure the inclusiveness of pupils with food allergies at school and to make it available to pupils annually.