504 plan to get your child a gluten free lunch
My wife is part of a Celiac parent group and a few people expressed interest in how we ended up getting Gillian a hot school lunch that was gluten free. Believe me, it wasn't easy.
Our daughter Gillian is the first in our school system to be diagnosed with Celiac Disease (detailed description of Celiac below), and we had quite the time getting her legal protection via a 504.
So I’ll share the 504 with you, below. If you live in the US, you’re legally entitled to everything on it for your school-aged child with Celiac. The cherry on the sundae, though, was getting the school system to train staff (by a registered dietician) and provide hot lunches every day for her (for which we’ll pay the same as every other child in our district, $2.25, but the quality is extremely high). We had trouble getting them to agree to this (we were told that they didn’t see this as a necessity), until we told them that, according to the Food & Drug Administration in Washington, DC, schools have to accommodate under 504 by preparing and serving at least one SAFE meal per day to the student (this goes for kids with 504s with food allergies as well, and there are lots of them in our district). This means safe hot dogs, hamburgers, etc (whatever is formulated in 504 plan) and prepared in separate area of the cafeteria with separate utensils.
The woman who runs the cafeteria couldn’t have been more helpful and accommodating, and Gillian had a wonderful experience eating a gluten free version of what the other children were served.
Here's the actual file we got finalized and put into her permanent file. Just the fact that she can eat a lunch along with everyone else is HUGE since she has a tendency to feel apart from the group.
July 24th, 2010 - 16:24
Great info for those who need it! I’ve noticed that my grocery store is now carrying a ton of gluten free products, so there must really be a need for it.
July 24th, 2010 - 20:43
I am surprised this 504 was so difficult as it was a physiological necessity to allow her access to an aspect of appropriate education that every student has the rights to. Heck they do this for severe allergies all the time! They made accommodations without us even asking for Anna 15 years ago. ( Its not like you were stating your kid stubbed their toe and now needs extended time for testing because of the mental trauma)
I am glad that it went your way in the end though! Thanks for letting the world know what a 504 is!!!
July 26th, 2010 - 09:38
It’s amazing how much you have to fight for these days. I have 3 daughters with Celiac Disease, and NONE of them have a 504. We have tried, and the (public) school insists that they can handle it without the documentation. It doesn’t make sense to me – one would think that the school would WANT documentation to prevent lawsuits, miscommunications, whatnot.
Thank you for posting this for those of us who can possible benefit from it. Thank you for fighting for your kiddo.
July 26th, 2010 - 09:50
Elizabeth,
I’d love to take the credit, but it was my wife going into Mamabear protective mode that got this thru. If you have ANY questions, she welcomes helping anyone fight for this. A lot of the problem is the administrators not wanting to fit the expense, but some subtle “well my lawyer said” helped move the process along. In the end, everyone involved realized that it all comes down to the safety and the emotion of the child and it’s going well now. She’s switching schools this year, but we already have a meeting scheduled with the principal of the new school, the teachers, and the kitchen staff to make sure we don’t have to go thru the same crap. Once the 504 is in place, they can’t really get rid of it because it’s legally binding.
We went with the agreement and things seem to be going fine until we hit a teacher who couldn’t be bothered. Then we put on the pads and jumped into the ring and started swinging. We also had a big problem because we were the first in the district to push it thru. Hopefully it’ll be easier for others behind us to get what their children need.
my wife’s email is fcushing@optonline.net , please email her if you have any questions and mention you came from my website so it’s not out of the blue
July 31st, 2010 - 21:31
You guys did your homework!
Just to let you know, I had to change URL’s. My avataar now links to the new site.
July 31st, 2010 - 21:31
Shoot, I should have changed the URL in the comment form.
July 31st, 2010 - 21:32
Typed it wrong! Wish there was a delete function!
August 11th, 2010 - 02:02
That is amazing. I have been trying to go Gluten free during my Crohn’s flareups, and it is no easy task. I admire you both working so hard to get her treated equally at school!