ALLERGY Act

Alerting Local Leaders and Ensuring Responsible Guidelines for Youth Act or the ALLERGY Act

This bill amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to require a local educational agency (LEA), as a condition of receiving funds under the ESEA, to establish and implement a policy on allergy bullying that requires schools to:

• educate students, school personnel, and parents about allergy bullying;
• clearly define what the punishment or response may be for violating rules against allergy bullying;
• encourage each victim of allergy bullying to report the bullying to school personnel; and
• comply with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 in carrying out these requirements.

An LEA shall certify annually that it has established and implemented such a policy.

"Allergy bullying" is an unwanted, aggressive behavior by a student toward another student who has an allergy, including: (1) a real or perceived imbalance of power due to the student's allergy; and (2) actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, making physical or verbal attacks, and purposefully excluding the student from a group.