Sec. 25.0022.  FOOD ALLERGY INFORMATION REQUESTED UPON ENROLLMENT.  (a)  In this section, "severe food allergy" means a dangerous or life-threatening reaction of the human body to a food-borne allergen introduced by inhalation, ingestion, or skin contact that requires immediate medical attention.
(b)  On enrollment of a child in a public school, a school district shall request, by providing a form or otherwise, that a parent or other person with legal control of the child under a court order:
(1)  disclose whether the child has a food allergy or a severe food allergy that, in the judgment of the parent or other person with legal control, should be disclosed to the district to enable the district to take any necessary precautions regarding the child's safety; and
(2)  specify the food to which the child is allergic and the nature of the allergic reaction.
(c)  A school district shall maintain the confidentiality of information provided under this section, and may disclose the information to teachers, school counselors, school nurses, and other appropriate school personnel only to the extent consistent with district policy under Section 38.009 and permissible under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g).
(d)  Except as provided by Subsections (e) and (f), information regarding a child's food allergy, regardless of how it is received by the school or school district, shall be retained in the child's student records but may not be placed in the health record maintained for the child by the school district.
(e)  If the school receives documentation of a food allergy from a physician, that documentation shall be placed in the health record maintained for the child by the school district.
(f)  A registered nurse may enter appropriate notes about a child's possible food allergy in the health record maintained for the child by the school district, including a notation that the child's student records indicate that a parent has notified the school district of the child's possible food allergy.
Added by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1276 (H.B. 742), Sec. 1, eff. June 17, 2011.