ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Lawmakers in Tallahassee are finishing up their first week of the 2024 legislative session, but one of the bills News 6 has been following closely may be in jeopardy.
The Anaphylaxis in Public Schools bill would require before and after-school personnel to be trained on how to administer an EpiPen, but so far, the bill appears to have stalled in the Florida House.
News 6 first introduced you to 6-year-old Lincoln Isler in November 2023 when he showed us how to use an EpiPen. Lincoln suffers from severe food allergies.
His mom, Sherry Isler, began pushing local leaders for change when she discovered that her kindergartner at Winter Park’s Aloma Elementary would not have access to his life-saving medication while in their extended day program.
“Kids are eating breakfast there as well as after-school snacks and if nobody’s trained on recognizing signs of an allergic reaction for him and giving him his EpiPen, if needed, then he’s just not safe,” Sherry Isler said.
[RELATED: How to contact your Florida lawmakers | 10 issues we’re watching in the 2024 Florida Legislative Session]
Since then, Orange County Public Schools has mandated anaphylaxis training for all after-school programs, but this bill would require districts statewide to adopt an anaphylaxis policy, as well as train appropriate school personnel and at least 50% of staff in before and after school programs.
Florida House Rep. Rita Harris, D-District 44, is one of the bill’s sponsors.
“I think it’s really good policy. I think anything that kind of streamlines a protocol and gets everyone on the same page is just going to increase safety, especially for our students,” Harris said.
However, the bill has yet to be put on a committee agenda and it must pass three committees before going up for a full vote. Harris is hopeful it will be included in a larger bill later in the session. Otherwise, she says, she’ll work to bring the issue back next year.
“I know that bills are prioritized according to the priorities of the speaker and so that does sometimes play into it,” Harris said. “It can be frustrating when there are bills like this that are just, they seem like really kind of no-nonsense bills, but sometimes it takes a few attempts to get a bill like this passed.”
Meanwhile, Sherry Isler tells News 6 she is ready to go to Tallahassee and speak with lawmakers to encourage them to support this bill.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: