Diabetic middle-schooler sent to principal for trying to control blood sugar

A fourth grade student at Spokane, Washington’s Midway Elementary School faced disciplinary consequences after she had a health problem at school.

Caitlin Perry, a 9-year-old student at the school, is diabetic.

One Friday back in March, Caitlin was in the lunch room at the school when she noticed her blood sugar was low.

She needed carbohydrates to raise her blood sugar so she asked a friend to grab her another fruit snack from the cook, which her friend did.

The problem was Caitlin had already received her lunch for the day and by having her friend get the snack for her, the act was considered theft in the school’s eyes.

“When I was about to open the fruit snack, the cook came around and said ‘You had two, you can’t have this,‘“ explained Caitlin, “she took it and told me I’m going to the principal’s office.“

Caitlin and her friend were called to the principal’s office where Caitlin was written up for stealing and forced to write a letter of apology.

“I am very sorry for what happened and I swear it will never happen again,“ wrote Caitlin, “I did not know it would be stealing and thought it would be ok because my blood sugar was low.“

Caitlin’s father, Chris, was concerned by the way the school handled the situation.

He said he actually took Caitlin out of private school to go to Midway Elementary because of her condition and the fact that state laws are more strict when it comes to student health care.

Chris would like the school to be more educated when it comes to diabetes and be more aware of the signs and symptoms of a student having a diabetic problem.

The school’s principal says this issue has been resolved and the school takes the healthcare of Caitlin and every student seriously.

The school district adds all teachers and staff are mandated by state law to receive training on diabetes and the teachers and staff at Midway Elementary School have received that training.

Chris said he doesn’t want the principal to get in any trouble for this incident, but again would like staff to have to go through some kind of diabetes education course every year, so other students won’t have to go through something like this again.