Safeguarding Students’ Food Safety

Zeijen Gonzalez-Carillo is a young student who is fed a specialized homemade blended diet through a gastronomy tube (G-tube) as part of his Individualized Education Program (IEP). His mother reached out to Disability Rights Florida because Zeijen's school had stopped providing him with the homemade food. Due to negative health effects Ziejen had experienced from the alternative food formula proposed by the school, his mother had to keep him at home out of concern for his safety.

Denying Zeijen his necessary meals and IEP accommodations violated his right to a free and appropriate public education. Our staff met with Zeijen's IEP team to explain that he had the right to his doctor-approved blended foods, but they pushed back. We filed a Due Process with the Department of Administrative Hearings (DOAH), and after negotiations with the District, we reached a Settlement Agreement. The school District reversed its policy and restarted G-tube feedings for Zeijen and all other home-blended G-tube-fed students in the District.