School told parent child can’t return to building without neurologist follow up

[Smiley74]

Can school nurse director in PA  tell a parent their child cannot re-enter the school building until they have a follow up with a neurologist to roll out related conditions despite discharge from ER that fainting/seizure like episode this week are not believed to be neurological in nature? No idea what the wait time to even see neurologist is. Child is currently on an IEP for other reasons. Episodes may be due to a recent medication adjustment.  

[JSD24]

If school personnel feel that a student needs medical clearance to attend school, I believe you can request that the school pay for the exam.  In addition, I would want this in writing.  After 3 unexcused days, a child is truant and, if the parent feels they should be in school, they could not, in good conscience, write an excuse note for their child so the absence would be exclusion from school on the school's part.  In other words, this is a suspension from school for medical reasons.  You want it documented so you are not charged with truancy. (Parents needs to save their absence excuses for the days they feel the child needs to stay home.)

I'd also ask the nurse for a referral to a pediatric neurologist.  It could take months to get in to see a specialist so homebound schooling could need to be set up.  In PA, I believe that after 2 weeks of illness, the school needs to provide homebound instruction.  I feel the school nurse could say this but, like I pointed out, it needs to be in writing or email because I see a ripple of things that could happen as a result.

Did the nurse explain what he/she was seeing where they feel it's neurological and not a side effect of the new medication?  Are they aware of the med change?  Is the nurse aware that the ER attributed this to the med change?  (I've not dealt with this sort of thing before.  This is speculation based on my best educated guess.  I welcome others to chime in.)

[Smiley74]

I’m fairly certain school is doing it because they feel it’s more of a liability thing because there’s no current health plan in place for the episodes. 

[Carolyn Rowlett]

In my opinion, they're exposing themselves to a different type of liability by preventing a child from accessing FAPE when there is not a documented medical reason for the child having to stay home.  Yes, get everything in writing and the reasons behind the decision, as well as share everything JSD24 points out.  But I would include the IEP on your emails (do they even know the nurse told you this?), and I would request an IEP meeting to figure out the educational plan moving forward (and if even needed) because the nurse doesn't seem to have a good one.

[JSD24]

On 3/28/2025 at 6:22 PM, Smiley74 said:

I’m fairly certain school is doing it because they feel it’s more of a liability thing because there’s no current health plan in place for the episodes. 

If they want a health plan, why did they say they want the child to have a follow-up with a neurologist?  The doctor isn't going to write a plan - they are going to give them clearance to attend school (just like the ER docs did).  If the school wants a health plan, they need to say that.

Things need to be in writing so everyone is on the same page with understanding what's needed for the medical suspension to end.

Common sense says that the prescribing doctor is who should come up with a plan if this is due to a side effect of a med.  (My feeling is schools are short on common sense in some situations.  I've seen this with my own child.)