A Strong Dose

Southern California school officials are fond of prominently posting “Drug-free Zone” signs on campuses to remind students and parents of the evils of drug trafficking and substance abuse on school grounds.

But local schools probably wouldn’t carry the anti-drug crusade as far as a suburban Dayton, Ohio, junior high school has.

In what has become known as “Midolgate” and has attracted nationwide media attention, Fairborn public school officials and a distraught parent finally resolved their dispute late Wednesday on whether a teenager should be able to possess or take an over-the-counter pain medication at school without seeking permission.

Erica Taylor, a 13-year-old honor student, had been slapped with a 10-day suspension and a recommendation of expulsion from Baker Junior High School last week because she was caught in possession of Midol, an over-the-counter medication for menstrual cramps containing acetaminophen and caffeine. Taylor wasn’t feeling well and borrowed the medication from a friend but then decided not to take it.

According to the school district’s policy, students cannot possess even over-the-counter medications without written permission from their parents. Erica was offered an alternative punishment of three days suspension and no expulsion if she attended a drug-education session. She initially refused to attend the education session, which costs $100 for the first visit and $90 for each individual appointment. Fees can be reduced if parents can’t afford them. (A Los Angeles Unified School District representative said in a similar situation reprimand would be more likely.)

The dispute ended when school officials agreed to end Erica’s suspension one day early and drop the expulsion recommendation. In exchange, Erica agreed to go to the drug education session where, presumably, she will learn about drug abuse, from cocaine to Midol. (Initially, Erica’s father, Dan, had opposed her participation because he didn’t want her associating with the “caliber of people” in the drug program.)

Dan Taylor told the Dayton Daily News that the school’s anti-drug policy, which does not distinguish between legal and illegal drugs, is “ludicrous.” But school officials said that drugs, prescription or nonprescription, can only be taken in the nurse’s office and with parental permission.

At LAUSD schools, students of any age are not permitted to carry medicine, either prescription or over-the-counter, says Dr. Sonia Andonian, coordinator of physician services for the district. Medicines must be authorized by a physician and the student’s parents and kept by school personnel for administration.

If medicine, either prescription or over-the-counter, is not prescribed by a private physician, students cannot take it at school, says Andonian. “I am using the term ‘prescribing’ loosely,” she says. “It may be a nonprescription medicine but the doctor is prescribing it for his patient.”

The policy stems from California education code, which states that any pupil required to take medication prescribed by a physician during the regular school day “may be assisted by the school nurse or other designated school personnel.” The district must have on file a written statement from the doctor detailing the amount of medicine, time schedule and dose and the signature of the student’s parent or guardian.

Parents and guardians are notified of this legal provision annually when they receive and are asked to complete the emergency information and notice of rights cards, Andonian says.

Typically, the medication request forms are kept in the office of the school nurse, who dispenses it. Exceptions are sometimes made for students with asthma who must have easy access to their inhalers, says Vic Pallos, spokesman for the Glendale Unified School District, which also requires the form. Andonian says individual needs are taken into account.

“We strongly discourage students from sharing medication, even over-the-counter,” adds Pallos.

And what if students are found with unauthorized medication?

“The medication is taken away until there is some verification from both parents and the private physician,” Andonian says.

Pallos says students found in violation of the policy usually receive a reprimand from administrators.

Meanwhile, a spokeswoman from the American Civil Liberties Union office nearest Fairborn says she has not been in contact with the parents or the school district.

The case, says Christine Link, of the Cleveland affiliate, “struck me much like the 6-year-old kissing incident [in which a North Carolina boy was suspended from school for kissing a female classmate on the cheek].. . . . It’s good for schools to have sexual harassment policies and good for them to have a clear .written-out policy about drugs but they also need to have some common sense.”