(a) No later than the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year, the State Department of Education, in consultation with the Alabama Board of Nursing, shall develop guidelines for the training of school employees in the care needed for students with diabetic medical needs according to the student’s Individual Health Plan, the medical authorizations of which are limited to permitting the administration of injectable medications specific to his or her diabetes. No other delegation of injectable medications shall be allowed under this chapter. These guidelines shall be developed in consideration of the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Diabetes Education Program, and any other appropriate published medical guidelines. Each local board of education shall ensure that diabetes training programs are provided for all school nurses and unlicensed medication assistants at schools under its jurisdiction.

(b) Each local school system shall ensure that the training outlined in subsection (a) is provided to unlicensed medication assistants. In consultation with the local school superintendent and in consideration of a student’s Individual Health Plan related to his or her diabetic condition, the lead nurse of the school system may recommend the placement of a school nurse based on the overall health needs of that student.

The parent or guardian of each student with an identified diabetic medical condition who seeks care while at school shall submit the order from a physician, certified registered nurse practitioner operating under a valid collaborative agreement, or physician assistant operating under a valid supervisory agreement according to the timeline established by the local education agency to be considered in the development of the student’s Individual Health Plan.

(a) The local board of education shall ensure that each student in the school or system with a diabetic condition receives appropriate care as specified in his or her Individual Health Plan.

(b) The school nurse or a trained unlicensed medication assistant, to the extent required by the student’s Individual Health Plan, shall be on site and available to provide care to each student with diabetes during regular school hours and school-sponsored before school and after school care programs, during field trips, extended off-site excursions, extracurricular activities in which the student is a direct participant, and on buses when the bus driver is not a trained unlicensed medication assistant.

A student with diabetes in public school may attend the school the student would otherwise attend if the student did not have diabetes, and the diabetes care specified in Section 16-30A-5 shall be provided at the school. A school system may not restrict a student who has diabetes from attending any school on the basis that the student has diabetes, that the school does not have a full-time school nurse, or that the school does not have trained unlicensed medication assistants. A student with diabetes may participate in extracurricular and co-curricular activities to the same extent as a student without diabetes. In addition, a school shall not require or pressure parents or guardians to provide care for a student with diabetes at school or at school-sponsored activities in which the student is a direct participant as set forth in Section 16-30A-5. However, if the parent or guardian of a student with diabetes does not supply the medication, the order from a physician, certified registered nurse practitioner operating under a valid collaborative agreement, or physician assistant operating under a valid supervisory agreement, supplies, or a signed parental and prescriber authorization, the parent or guardian shall be responsible for providing diabetic medical care to the student at school or at school-sponsored activities in which the student is a direct participant.