Ferndale School District Announces Food Restrictions

(Dania H. Bazzi, PhD, Superintendent Ferndale Schools)

For the 2017-2018 school year the Ferndale Early Childhood Center, Ferndale Lower Elementary School, and Ferndale Upper Elementary School will be peanut, tree nut, and sesame restricted.

Safety is the top priority of our school family.  This year we have had several students identified as having life threatening allergies that can be triggered by airborne, touch, contact, and/or consumption of various food items.  Due to the seriousness and severity of these allergies we have had to restrict the types of food brought into the FECC, FLEL, and FUEL for the coming school year.

Acceptance is one of the many things that makes our community so exceptional.  While I have only been here a few weeks it has been truly inspirational to witness this firsthand.

When I say acceptance, I refer to an attitude of openness and respect for the differences that exist amongst people. Although this term is typically used to refer to ethnic and religious differences, the concepts of diversity, tolerance, and acceptance can also be applied to gender, people with physical and intellectual disabilities, and other differences, such as life-threatening allergies.

Acceptance is respecting and learning from others, valuing differences, bridging cultural gaps, rejecting unfair stereotypes, discovering common ground, and creating new bonds. While these new restrictions will no doubt be challenging for many of our families to adjust to, we know our community will continue to come together for the good of all our students.

To help our families with this transition we have created a special section of our website with additional information to support families in making safe food choices.  Throughout the school year we will continue to update this website in addition to sending information to families in our E-Blast and Principal and Teacher newsletters.

Bridging the gap between students with and without food allergies in order to provide a healthy and safe school experience for all is difficult, but necessary.  With your assistance we can continue to harbor the special environment of acceptance and inclusion that exists within our halls.  Together we will continue to provide a safe school experience for all of our children.

Thank you for your understanding.  If you have any questions or concerns regarding this policy change please do not hesitate to contact me.