Medications

Contact Information:

Melissa Schumpert, RN
Health Services Coordinator

T: (325)947-3838 x530

Medications at School

Often, students have to take prescription medications and/or over the counter medications for a certain period of time as treatment for a medical condition.

  1. Prescribed medication must come to school in the original pharmacy bottle with the label on it. This includes inhalers.
  2. If medication is only given 1-3 times per day or time released, it can usually be given at home unless specific times are ordered by the doctor.
  3. Parents must sign a medication consent form before medication can be given at school. The parent’s written request must not conflict with the label instructions.
  4. Any increase or decrease in dosage must be stated in writing by a physician until a new prescription bottle is provided. Otherwise, school personnel must administer medication as it is stated on the container label, or parents may choose to come to the school and dispense the medication to their student.
  5. No medication is supplied by the school
  6. Medication purchased in a foreign country will not be given
  7. Over the counter medication must be in its original container stating directions and dosage. If school personnel reading the label directions find that the medicine is contraindicated for that student, a parent must come to school and administer the medication (ex: if a student is younger than the recommended age on the label directions, school personnel cannot administer the medicine without a physician’s order).
  8. If over the counter medication is given for three (3) consecutive days, a physician’s order is required.
  9. Herbal or dietary supplements will not be administered unless the medication will benefit the student’s educational achievement as stated in the student’s individualized education program (IEP) or Section 504 Plan and is prescribed by a physician.
  10. All medication must be turned in to the office upon arrival on the campus. We do not permit students to carry their own medications and self-administer without prior approval from the physician and the school nurse.

Guidelines for Self-Administration of Asthma Medicine

A student with asthma is entitled, according to House Bill 1688, to possess and self administer prescription asthma medicine while on school property or at a school related event or activity if:

  1. the prescription asthma medicine has been prescribed for the student as indicated by the prescription label on the medicine;
  2. the self administration is done in compliance with the prescription or written instructions from the student’s physician or other licensed health care provider;
  3. a parent of the student provides the school written authorization, signed by the parent, for the student to self administer prescription asthma medicine; and
  4. a parent of the student provides the school a written statement from the student’s physician, signed by the physician that states:
    1. the student has asthma and is capable of self administering the prescription asthma medication;
    2. the name and purpose of the medicine;
    3. the prescribed dosage for the medicine;
    4. the time at which or circumstances under which the medicine may be administered; and
    5. the period for which the medicine is prescribed.

The physician’s statement must be kept on file in the office of the campus the student attends. A person standing in parental relation to a student or the student himself, if over the age of 18, may give permission to use an asthma inhaler under these guidelines.