Court: Schools can legally ban peanuts

Aug. 1—A Michigan Court of Appeals panel upheld a decision Tuesday dismissing a lawsuit over a Romeo-area elementary school's policy creating a nut-free school.

The unpublished opinion addresses a lawsuit filed by the parent of a student at Hevel Elementary School challenging the decision of Romeo Community Schools to make the elementary school a nut-free zone because of a student with life-threatening nut allergies.

The ban prohibited all peanuts and tree nuts from the building, and school officials periodically searched lunch boxes and backpacks, according to the opinion. The allergic student had experienced reactions after school officials had implemented partial bans, leading the student's doctor to recommend the entire school be made nut-free.