The Texas Legislature recently passed a bill requiring preschools to publish a notice addressing the rights of families in a preschool program. The list below is presented for your review.

A parent or guardian of a child at a child-care facility has the right to:

• Enter and examine the program during the facility’s hours of operation without advance notice; 
• File a complaint against the program; 
• Review the program’s publicly accessible records; 
• Review the program’s written records concerning the parent’s or guardian’s child; 
• Receive from the program the commission’s inspection reports for the program and information about how to access the program’s compliance history online; 
• Have the program comply with a court order preventing another parent or guardian from visiting or removing the parent’s or guardian’s child; 
• Be provided the contact information for the division responsible for regulating the program, including the division’s name, address, and phone number; 
• Inspect any video recordings of an alleged incident of abuse or neglect involving the parent’s or guardian’s child, provided that: 
  • Video recordings of the alleged incident are available; 
  • The parent or guardian of the child is not allowed to retain any part of the video recording depicting a child who is not the parent’s or guardian’s child, and 
  • Before allowing a parent or guardian to inspect a video recording, a program must provide written notice to the parent or guardian of any other child captured in the video recording. 
  • This does not affect the ability of a law enforcement agency or the department to access a video recording as part of an investigation of an incident depicted in the video recording. 
• Obtain a copy of the program’s policies and procedures; 
• Review, on the request of the parent or guardian, the facility’s: 
  • staff training records, and 
  • any in-house staff training curriculum used by the facility and 
• Be free from any retaliatory action by the program for exercising any of the parent’s or guardian’s rights. 
•  A program shall provide the parent or guardian of the child with a written copy of these no later than September 30, 2023.

As our mission states at First United Methodist Preschool, we strive to create an environment for all children to grow and develop physically, cognitively, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. Along with that mission, we want to create a safe environment for every child who attends preschool.  **The preschool has banned all nut products at preschool.**  Please know that this decision was not made lightly nor quickly but after careful consideration and counsel.

We are banning all nut products as we have two cases of nut allergies on campus. We want to do the right things and keep everyone safe at preschool. Further, policies regarding food allergies are mandated by accreditation standards, requiring schools to prevent children from coming in contact with potentially hazardous food.

There is a lot of controversy in the court of public opinion regarding excluding nuts and nut products from school campuses due to allergies. Many parents feel that it is too broad of a rule to ban any food item for one particular child; it feels too extreme. Some schools have arranged designated eating areas for children with allergies and/or enact classroom bans for the particular food. They advocate that the child with the allergy must be educated and work to educate those around them to keep the allergen away from the child. This places the responsibility on the child to manage his/her allergy and environment.

Others believe that schools are charged with protecting the health of every child attending, just as we would if a child has a disability or other health diagnosis. They believe that all children have the right to attend schools and have the same childhood experiences as all other children. These types of bans are becoming increasingly common. In our particular case, we feel that the ban is appropriate for several reasons:

• We feel that preschool children should not be charged with maintaining and regulating their environment for such a serious issue as a school-age child might be able to do. We feel it is age-appropriate for adults to take on this important task.
• Our biggest reason for a school-wide ban is the issue of cross-contamination.  As we have shared space in the restrooms, at the playground, and in Wesley Hall, it poses a unique threat.  If a child has oily peanut butter at mealtime and then touches the restroom faucet handle or scooter handle, it has now contaminated the surface with the allergen. The likelihood is exponentially greater that this child can ingest the allergen.
• Parents can send pre-packaged sunflower butter for their children. You may send unopened, factory-sealed packets of sun butter. Parents MAY NOT send a nut butter sandwich, only the packet. Our teachers would not be able to tell the difference between safe and hazardous nut butter.
• We need families to help us with our job. All food is brought from home and packed by parents. Our staff will be aware of and monitor snack and lunch items, as they always have, but the cooperation of our families is essential to the success of this policy.
• We are a half-day program. As your children attend only a few hours per day, we feel that nuts and nut products can certainly be consumed after school hours, even on the way home from preschool, if you so choose.

We know that this may be surprising — we know that some of your children enjoy nuts and other nut products as well. It may be a change for you as a parent when packing lunches (please see our FAQ page on our website for some excellent lunch and snack ideas!). 

Other schools’ experiences with bans tell us that we will not be 100% successful in preventing an allergic reaction in this child. Some products can be contaminated or mislabeled, but we will be going a long way to reduce the risk of a life-threatening episode. We must do everything within our power to protect every child’s health; therefore, we feel that the ban is appropriate. As one teacher put it so succinctly, this can be a life-and-death matter. Any parent in that scenario would want us to do as much to protect his/her child as well. 

We realize that this may be a sensitive issue. I will be available for any further questions or clarifications. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and vigilance in this serious health matter.

Sandy Pennington, Preschool Director

Foods that may contain nuts: Please check labels carefully

Baked goods

Biscuits

Cereals

Chinese meals

Crackers

Egg rolls

Ice creams

Health bars

Indonesian dishes

Kebabs

Marzipan

Mixed nuts

Pastries

Peanut oil “Natural” flavorings

Peanut butter

Sweets

Spaghetti sauces

Soups

Thai dishes

Vegetable fats & oils

Bouillon/Worcestershire sauce

Nougat

Muesli

Hydrolyzed vegetable protein

Chocolates

Nutmeg

Vegetarian dishes

Pest Arachnis oil

Granola bars – please check labels as these frequently contain nuts/nut products

Yesterday, our teachers returned for inservice, and we had a fantastic day. We had lengthy discussions about best practices in early childhood education and positive guidance strategies for children from infants through PreK. We have an amazing group of new and returning educators at FUMP, and I look forward to having your family join us.

I am delighted to announce our teaching assignments and class rosters for the coming school year. Here is the link to the password-protected rosters: CLASS ROSTERS.  Please check your Brightwheel message for the password. Below are links to welcome letters from your child’s teacher.

Ms. Shannon’s Welcome Letter

Ms. Anissa’s Welcome Letter

Ms. Lizbeth’s Welcome Letter

Ms. Keely’s Welcome Letter

Ms. Erica Welcome Letter

Ms. Joelene’s Welcome Letter

Ms. Stacy’s Welcome Letter

We are thrilled to welcome you and your little ones to our preschool family! As we embark on this exciting educational journey together, we want to ensure a smooth enrollment process for you. Please find below the links to our enrollment portal, where you can complete the necessary forms and provide essential information about your child. We kindly request you fill out the forms accurately and upload any required documents. Should you have any questions or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We look forward to nurturing and inspiring your child’s growth and development at our preschool.

• Returning families must complete the enrollment process, as there are new items for your review.
• **Reminder, you must use a web browser to complete the portal and forms; the app will not access the forms.
• Check out our Parent Volunteer opportunities for the coming school year before you begin the form.

Enrollment Portal Links:

• NEW FAMILY/NEW SIBLING ENROLLMENT
• RETURNING FAMILY ENROLLMENT

SAVE THE DATES!
Class rosters and teaching assignments will be announced on Monday, August 7.
Parent Orientation will be Thursday, August 10th, at 11:30 or 12:30, and will be VIRTUAL. More details to come.
Classroom Visits will be Friday and Monday, August 11 & 14. Our classrooms will be open for visits from 10 – 1pm both days. Please plan a time to visit your child’s class and meet their teachers.
First Day of Preschool is Tuesday, August 15

The preschool office will be closed from July 22 – August 6. Please let us know if you have any questions and we will respond when we return. See you next month.