Parents want 1st grader with peanut allergy gone

(CBS) Controversy has sprung up around a first-grade girl from Edgewater, Fla., with an extreme, life-threatening peanut allergy. Instead of dealing with extra rules to protect her health, parents of her classmates want her removed from the class and home-schooled, a school official said.

Special Section: Eye on Parenting

However, as Nancy Wait, spokeswoman for the Volusia County School District, pointed out, the public school there is required to provide accommodation for the girl because her allergy is considered a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"That was one of the suggestions that kept coming forward from parents, to have her home schooled," she said. "... That's just not even an option for us."

To protect the girl, Reuters reports students in her class at Edgewater Elementary School are required to wash their hands before entering the classroom in the morning and after lunch, and rinse out their mouths. Wait said a peanut-sniffing dog was also called in to check out the school during spring break.

Chris Burr, a father of two older students at the school whose wife has protested at the campus, told the news service a lot of small accommodations have frustrated many parents.

He told Reuters, "If I had a daughter who had a problem, I would not ask everyone else to change their lives to fit my life."

In another report, parent Carrie Starkey said, "On average, it's probably taking a good 30 minutes out of the day. That's my child's education. Thirty minutes could be a whole subject."

The girl's father David Bailey told the media, "We've fought very hard to put certain things in place to keep her alive in school. ... She's already a cast-out. She can't do things that most kids can do."

What do you think of this situation? What would you do if it was your child's classmate - or your child - with the allergy? Feel free to weigh in below in the comments section.