In a published decision, the Third Appellate District California Court of Appeal ruled this week that “unlicensed school personnel are not authorized by current law to administer prescribed injections of insulin to a diabetic student, even if the student requires such injections pursuant to a [federal] Section 504 or IEP plan, absent express statutory permission.”  Therefore, the court concluded, section 8 of the California Department of Education’s legal advisory “that states unlicensed school personnel have such authority is invalid.”  The court affirmed the trial court’s judgment and issuance of a writ of mandate directing the California Department of Education to refrain from implementing or enforcing portions of the legal advisory that authorize the administration of insulin to students by school personnel who are not authorized to administer it under state statutes and to remove those portions from its legal advisory.  “[T]he trial court correctly determined the portion of the legal advisory, authorizing unlicensed designated school personnel to administer insulin to diabetic students in nonemergency situations, is inconsistent with California law and therefore, invalid,” the Court of Appeal stated. 

The court found injections of insulin to be the administration of medication, a nursing function under Business and Professions Code Section 2725, a provision of the Nursing Practice Act.  It found no exception in that Act for unlicensed school personnel to administer insulin injections to students “as proposed by the legal advisory issued by the CDE.”  The court also concluded that Education Code Section 49423 – which states that a pupil required to take prescribed medication “may be assisted by the school nurse or other designated school personnel” -- does not authorize unlicensed school personnel to administer insulin injections that diabetic students may require pursuant to a Section 504 Plan or IEP.  “[W]e have no power to rewrite the statute to make it conform to a presumed intention that is unexpressed,” the court stated.

For a copy of the decision please contact your Labor Relations Representative

State budget woes grow deeper as rosy projections come up short
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Published Wednesday, May. 12, 2010

Washington hasn't come to the rescue. Hopes for a tax windfall were dashed last month.
As the reality of a $20 billion deficit sets in, California leaders are bracing for another summer of difficult state budget talks.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will kick off serious budget discussions Friday with his May budget revision. The governor is likely to propose reductions in everything from social services to schools to state worker compensation.
"What you can expect generally is no taxes and terrible cuts, absolutely terrible cuts," said Schwarzenegger press secretary Aaron McLear. "We're not going to get through the deficit we have without some really tough decisions and some really terrible cuts."