WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. (WKBW) — Some parents in the Northtowns are demanding change after saying school nurses are not remotely monitoring their children with Type 1 diabetes, despite technology that makes it easier than ever.
The parents say their children use continuous glucose monitors (CGM) — devices worn on the arm that provide blood sugar level updates directly to a smartphone app for remote monitoring.
However, parents say nurses at their children's schools are not using this technology to track their children's blood sugar levels.
"It's a very, very serious matter," said Angela, a Williamsville parent who provided only her first name.
Angela's 9-year-old daughter is a fifth grader at Casey Middle School. She says once her daughter moved up from elementary school, a nurse was no longer monitoring her despite a doctor's order.
"If her blood glucose drops below 70, this can cause seizures. It can cause passing out. It could even cause death," Angela explained. "In the Williamsville school district, currently, they are only remote monitoring at the elementary school level. My daughter is elementary age and did skip a grade, so she's only nine.”
I brought her concerns directly to Williamsville Superintendent Dr. Darren Brown-Hall, who is not allowed to talk about specific cases.
"We have different forms of monitoring depending on the age of the student and the ability of the student, so we look for students as our policy speaks to, to become, you know, self-advocates and independent as they get older," Brown-Hall said.
Ken-Ton parents face similar issues
Kenmore-Tonawanda school district parents Stephanie and John say that after two years of a school nurse monitoring their son, it suddenly stopped this school year. Their 7-year-old son attends St. Amelia School, but the private Catholic school shares a nurse with the Ken-Ton district.
"They have stated multiple times that it's a liability for them to follow our summary. Basically, they've given us a liability waiver to sign," said Stephanie.
"And a lot of times, the communication has been foggy and non-transparent," John said.
The Ken-Ton School District provided the following statement:
"The health and safety of students is the district’s highest priority. We have many students with medical conditions that require specialized monitoring. In all cases, district personnel work with the family and medical providers to create an individualized plan for each child. For students with Type 1 Diabetes, monitoring blood sugar levels via apps such as Dexcom is one resource nurses can utilize with the necessary documentation in place."
Both families say that without a school nurse helping, their kids feel discriminated against because now a teacher must handle it.
"Let's not treat our Type 1 diabetic children like they're a liability. My son deserves to go to school every day. We feel like he's just like any other kid," Stephanie said.
The Department of Justice says schools should be using the remote monitoring as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
WATCH: 'It's a very, very serious matter': WNY parents demand schools monitor children's diabetes remotely
"It's singling her out when the technology exists to eliminate the work for both the nurse, the teacher and the embarrassment for my daughter," Angela said.
Superintendent Brown-Hall also responded to the issue of the Type 1 diabetic students feeling like it’s an inclusive environment.
“That's something that we would never want any of our students to feel excluded because of anything that's going on, you know, personally or medically, and so we strive to make sure that that is not the case for all of our students,” said Brown-Hall.
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