‘The county is really the hold-up’: Parents want Chesterfield Schools to let its staff help their kids with diabetes
CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Some Chesterfield County Public Schools parents are asking the school division to let schools be more involved in the care of children with diabetes. They said checking their kids’ glucose levels is an all-day task they’d like school nurses to be allowed to help with. Kasey Zyglocke said her son Henry was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at just 17 months old. “He has never known anything different," she said. “I was a new-ish mom and having a child diagnosed with a life-threatening disease was ... it turned our whole world upside down.” Henry is 12 years old now and a seventh grader at Tomahawk Creek Middle School. Zyglocke said he understands his glucose numbers and knows how to recognize highs and lows -- but this wasn’t always the case. Henry started at a Chesterfield Couty Public School in the first grade, where the school nurse monitored his glucose levels using an app for some time -- until, one day, she was told not to. Investigation into Orange County odor event reveals cause and RSA code violations “The nurses that we dealt with were very upset about it," Zyglocke said, emphasizing that Henry was too young to go without help at that time. Zyglocke said the county first told her and her husband that letting nurses help out was a HIPPA violation. But when they said they’d sign any paperwork necessary, they were given different reason: they were told that their expectations were too high for the nurse’s capabilities. So, the Zyglockes began monitoring their son’s levels on the app all by themselves while Henry was at school, calling the nurse if it got too low or too high. Zyglocke said Henry's school nurse, teachers and administration have been extremely supportive and want to help all they can -- it’s the county that’s holding them back. “We’re working, we have other children," she said. "We constantly felt like we had to be looking at him all day when there’s a nurse at the school that could be doing that -- and that wanted to do that.” 'It changed the course of my life': Virginia Brain Tumor 5K raises money for research, honors those who’ve passed When asked about this, Chesterfield County Public Schools said it follows a medical management plan completed by the doctor of every student diagnosed with diabetes. But the Zyglockes said this wasn’t the case for them and they just want every family to have the option for the school nurse to monitor. “What is also a liability is if something happens to my child ... when they could’ve prevented it," she said. "Who would be monitoring these children? These very young children or newly diagnosed children.” And that’s exactly where Ann Bishop and her 9-year-old daughter Serenity have found themselves. “She’s a great mix of sweet and sassy," Bishop said, describing her daughter Serenity is a third-grader at Swift Creek Elementary. She was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in February. Join 8News in celebrating 100 years of the Petersburg Library “We had to change our eating habits," Bishop said of the adjustment needed after this news. "We had to change our activities.” Bishop is a single mom, who told 8News that she sometimes has to wake up in the middle of the night when Serenity has lows. She is also constantly monitoring her levels when she’s at work and said that, day-to-day, it's all exhausting. Similar to the Zyglockes, Bishop wants the school nurse to monitor her daughter’s levels and for more teacher training and classrooms to be stocked with glucose. Also much like the Zyglockes, Bishop said school staff are eager to help, but can't. “The county is really the hold-up," she said. "The school is fully supportive of it.” Chesterfield County Public Schools requires all teachers to take a diabetes awareness course. However, there are two optional courses for teachers to take about insulin pumps and glucose monitoring. 8News asked the county how many teachers took those two optional courses and was told that such data was not available.
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CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Some Chesterfield County Public Schools parents are asking the school division to let schools be more involved in the care of children with diabetes. They said checking their kids’ glucose levels is an all-day task they’d like school nurses to be allowed to help with.
Kasey Zyglocke said her son Henry was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at just 17 months old.
“He has never known anything different," she said. “I was a new-ish mom and having a child diagnosed with a life-threatening disease was ... it turned our whole world upside down.”
Henry is 12 years old now and a seventh grader at Tomahawk Creek Middle School. Zyglocke said he understands his glucose numbers and knows how to recognize highs and lows -- but this wasn’t always the case.
Henry started at a Chesterfield Couty Public School in the first grade, where the school nurse monitored his glucose levels using an app for some time -- until, one day, she was told not to.
Investigation into Orange County odor event reveals cause and RSA code violations
“The nurses that we dealt with were very upset about it," Zyglocke said, emphasizing that Henry was too young to go without help at that time.
Zyglocke said the county first told her and her husband that letting nurses help out was a HIPPA violation. But when they said they’d sign any paperwork necessary, they were given different reason: they were told that their expectations were too high for the nurse’s capabilities.
So, the Zyglockes began monitoring their son’s levels on the app all by themselves while Henry was at school, calling the nurse if it got too low or too high.
Zyglocke said Henry's school nurse, teachers and administration have been extremely supportive and want to help all they can -- it’s the county that’s holding them back.
“We’re working, we have other children," she said. "We constantly felt like we had to be looking at him all day when there’s a nurse at the school that could be doing that -- and that wanted to do that.”
When asked about this, Chesterfield County Public Schools said it follows a medical management plan completed by the doctor of every student diagnosed with diabetes. But the Zyglockes said this wasn’t the case for them and they just want every family to have the option for the school nurse to monitor.
“What is also a liability is if something happens to my child ... when they could’ve prevented it," she said. "Who would be monitoring these children? These very young children or newly diagnosed children.”
And that’s exactly where Ann Bishop and her 9-year-old daughter Serenity have found themselves.
“She’s a great mix of sweet and sassy," Bishop said, describing her daughter
Serenity is a third-grader at Swift Creek Elementary. She was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in February.
Join 8News in celebrating 100 years of the Petersburg Library
“We had to change our eating habits," Bishop said of the adjustment needed after this news. "We had to change our activities.”
Bishop is a single mom, who told 8News that she sometimes has to wake up in the middle of the night when Serenity has lows. She is also constantly monitoring her levels when she’s at work and said that, day-to-day, it's all exhausting.
Similar to the Zyglockes, Bishop wants the school nurse to monitor her daughter’s levels and for more teacher training and classrooms to be stocked with glucose.
Also much like the Zyglockes, Bishop said school staff are eager to help, but can't.
“The county is really the hold-up," she said. "The school is fully supportive of it.”
Chesterfield County Public Schools requires all teachers to take a diabetes awareness course. However, there are two optional courses for teachers to take about insulin pumps and glucose monitoring.
8News asked the county how many teachers took those two optional courses and was told that such data was not available.
