School board OKS policy for student medical marijuana

The Franklin County Board of Education has given approval to an alteration of the local school district’s oversight policies as they relate to students and prescribed medical marijuana usage.

Superintendent of Education Chris Kent brought the matter to the board for consideration during the panel’s Tuesday, May 17 monthly business meeting in Meadville.

“This particular policy deals with students and we need to take action before the June meeting so that we can begin the process of preparing our handbooks that will be distributed to start the 2022-23 school year,” he said.

The Mississippi Legislature approved and Gov. Tate Reeves signed into law the “Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act” earlier this year with the measure allowing for the use of medical marijuana to treat certain debilitating medical conditions that were spelled out in the act.

Since the law’s enactment in February, jurisdictions across the Magnolia State, including the Franklin County School District, have been working to balance their student and personnel policies with the fledgling medical cannabis guidelines.

“Basically, our policy will state if a child has a doctor’s order — with all of the documentation that will be required for the district to receive to allow its use — we will not accept the smoked form (of medical marijuana).

“Under this policy, if a child has a prescription that he or she has to take, we will not store it at school, (school personnel) will not touch it and the parent/guardian of that child will have to come and administer it in pill form.”

Kent said the district would not be putting its employees in the practice of handling or dispensing medical marijuana.

“This is new territory for us and we searched to see what other districts were doing and feel like this is a good middle ground where our district is concerned,” he continued.

“There will clearly be a statement in the handbook that spells out exactly what our policy will involve, which will hopefully address any concerns parents and students might have.”

School Board President Gloria Hayes, who represents District 1, asked whether the newest policy change would impact the distribution of other medicines on campuses county-wide.

“We have nurses that will still handle those kinds of things and administer certain medicines — if it is for diabetes or something similar to that,” Kent said.

“None of our employees deal with medicines and that’s why we have nurses on staff in those instances.”

Afterwards, the board voted by a 5-0 margin to authorize the cannabis policy change.

The adoption came roughly two weeks before patients across the state could start submitting applications for a medical marijuana card in Mississippi on Wednesday, June 1.

Also during the meeting, Kent presented board members with a written medical marijuana policy as it pertains to school district employees for review before any action is taken.

“We’re sending this one home to give you time to look it over and ask questions you might have before we move forward,” he added.
Kent did not discuss particulars related to any personnel policies being considered, and the matter could come up for board approval as early as the panel’s Tuesday, June 21 meeting at the superintendent’s office.

Under provisions of the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act, permitted uses of the substance to treat certain debilitating medical conditions included: Cancer, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, muscular dystrophy, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, ALS, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, sickle-cell anemia, Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, post-traumatic stress disorder, autism, cachexia or wasting syndrome, chronic pain, severe or intractable nausea, seizures, severe and persistent muscle spasms, among others.