Medications at School

Medications are administered by the health staff according to Dysart Unified School District policy.  If a Nurse or Health Assistant is not available, the school administrator may appoint a “designee” to administer medication; on field trips, administration may delegate the administration of medication to unlicensed personnel.

Prescription Medications

All Prescription Medications, including inhalers, must be in a pharmacy box/bottle with prescription label attached with the child’s name, medication name, dosage and time of day clearly stated. The parent/guardian must complete and sign the Medication Administration Request form for every prescription medication given on campus.  Refills of medications  are to be brought to the school health office by a parent or designated adult.

Over-the-Counter (OTC) Medications

The parent/guardian may bring in over the counter medication for their child; the container must be sealed and the child’s name must be clearly written on the container. Requests must be in agreement with the manufacturer’s directions or have a superseding physician’s order. Herbal preparations must have a doctor’s order. A Medication Administration Request form must be completed and signed. 

• Parental Consent for Medication Administration at School
  
• Parental Consent for Self-Administration of Medication
  

Stock Medications on Campus

Parents/guardians may enter the Parent Portal and complete the Annual Update giving written permission to the staff to administer over the counter medications, including acetaminophen and ibuprofen.  This must be completed each school year. 

*Note:  A student with a temperature of 100.4 or higher must stay home until he/she has been fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications.

The district participates in the Maricopa County Department of Public Health School Surveillance and Medication Program that allows campus health offices to use emergency medications during life-threatening emergencies.  These medications include a stock albuterol inhaler and a stock Epi-pen for a student experiencing moderate to severe respiratory distress or allergic reaction.  Please ask your health office for more information.  These are limited use medications.

To prevent adverse side effects and the overuse of acetaminophen and ibuprofen, these medications will be administered per the manufacturer’s label to include the following:

1. Medication will be dosed according to the age of the student.
2. No more than three doses of either medication will be given in a two week period unless a doctor’s note is provided.
3. No medication will be administered in the four (4) hours before the final bell (elementary school) and one (1) hour before the final bell (high school) unless, in addition to written permission given during the annual update, verbal permission has been obtained from the parent/guardian.
   
4. No stock over-the-counter medications will be given less than one hour before the end of the  school day.
   

All medications are kept in the health office.  However, certain emergency medications (Inhalers and Epinephrine auto-injections) may be kept at the student’s location or in the student’s backpack.  A special consent form must be completed and signed for these self-carry medications.

Parents/guardians should retrieve medications at the end of the school year; medications will be destroyed if not retrieved by the last day of school.