diabetes

Parents of children with Type 1 Diabetes are getting frustrated by a lack of response to their request for a school policy.

They are asking for a standard level of care for students while in class.

Alana Diening says their fight has been ongoing since 2024.

“It’s been a long and winding path with highs such as receiving a callback from Premier Doug Ford that led to conversations with Minister of Health Sylvia Jones and Minister of Education Paul Calandra,” says Diening.

“It has also included lows as we continue to witness small children being harmed by this lack of policy protection as the ministry continues to consider its next steps.”

Diening says she was forced to remove her son from school because she felt it was not safe when she was told teachers were uncomfortable responding to his diabetic needs.

Dr. Hannah Geddie of McMaster Children’s Hospital says educators should be trained to monitor children and provide support when required.

“It is absolutely essential that school personnel, and that means teachers and EAs and others, are properly educated and supported when they have a child with type 1 diabetes in their classroom,” says Geddie.

“We must be able to assign responsibility and have school personnel participate in blood sugar monitoring and management according to that child’s care plan.

“There must be a caring and educated adult who is with them who can identify when that blood sugar is too high or too low, and that child is in danger, can determine what to do to keep them safe according to the care plan that’s been set up by the family, their healthcare providers, and the school,” adds Geddie.

The government announced in February a review of the policy governing how schools take care of students with ongoing medical needs, including diabetes.

It included soliciting input, but provided no timetable for when the review would be complete.