School board notes: Home tutoring; allergies and safety on buses
Lack of home tutoring services
Two parents addressed the school board Tuesday claiming their children aren’t receiving home tutoring services.
Robin Southard said her 16-year-old daughter suffers from cystic fibrosis and has been out of school since December due to her illness.
“I’m still not getting the home instruction,” she said. “The school year’s almost over. Something needs to be done.”
Raquel Ortiz-Dantzler said her daughter, who’s in seventh grade, has Autism and has been without home tutoring for the past month.
Ms. Carney asked for Ms. Southard’s contact information and said she’ll get back to her. As for Ms. Ortiz-Dantzler, Ms. Carney said she’s already discussed “an alternative” for her daughter’s situation.
Ms. Ortiz-Dantzler claimed no such information has been provided.
“I’m not happy with this answer,” she said.
Ms. Carney then said she would meet with Ms. Ortiz-Dantzler to discuss her concerns.
Allergies and safety on buses
Riverhead school district officials gave a presentation Tuesday to discuss policies for administering medication to students on school buses.
District nurse Dan Hull said that if a student has a life threatening allergy, the district will develop an individual health care plan as a guide for how school officials should respond if a student has an emergency.
Bus drivers must volunteer to receive the training to administer EpiPens.
Transportation director Amala Cain said students who have more serious medical conditions or are unable to self-administer medicine are transported to school on minibuses who have bus monitors trained to administer EpiPens onboard.
Parent Yolanda Thomas said she believes the district should provide aides on school buses instead of assigning students to minibuses, which she described as a punishment.
No district bus driver addressed the school board during the meeting.
