Pediatric Diabetes 2015: 16: 613 – 620 doi: 10.1111/pedi.12204 All rights reserved  2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Pediatric Diabetes Original Article Are children with type 1 diabetes safe at school? Examining parent perceptions Driscoll KA, Volkening LK, Haro H, Ocean G, Wang Y, Jackson CC, Clougherty M, Hale DE, Klingensmith GJ, Laffel L, Deeb LC, Siminerio LM. Are children with type 1 diabetes safe at school? Examining parent perceptions. Pediatric Diabetes 2015: 16: 613 – 620. Objective: To describe parent perceptions of children’s diabetes care at school including: availability of licensed health professionals; staff training; logistics of provision of care; and occurrence and treatment of hypo- and hyper- glycemia; and to examine parents’ perceptions of their children’s safety and satisfaction in the school environment. Research design and methods: A survey was completed by parents of children with type 1 diabetes from permissive (trained, non-medical school personnel permitted to provide diabetes care; N = 237) and non-permissive (only licensed health care professionals permitted to provide diabetes care; N = 198) states. Results: Most parents reported that schools had nurses available for the school day; teachers and coaches should be trained; nurses, children, and parents frequently provided diabetes care; and hypo- and hyperglycemia occurred often. Parents in permissive states perceived children to be as safe and were as satisfied with care as parents in non-permissive states. Conclusions: Training non-medical staff will probably maximize safety of children with diabetes when a school nurse is not available. Kimberly A Driscoll a , Lisa K Volkening b , Heidi Haro c , Gesnyr Ocean a , Yuxia Wang a , Crystal Crismond Jackson d , Marilyn Clougherty e , Daniel E Hale f , Georgeanna J Klingensmith c , Lori Laffel b , Larry C Deeb a and Linda M Siminerio g a Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee, FL, USA; b Genetics and Epidemiology Section, Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston, MA, USA; c Barbara Davis Center, Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CL, USA; d American Diabetes Association, Government Affairs and Advocacy, Alexandria, VA, USA; e Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, Pediatric Endocrinology, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; f Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA; and g Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA Key words: parents’ perceptions – safety – school environment – type 1 diabetes Corresponding author: Kimberly A. Driscoll, PhD, Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Medicine, Florida State University College of Medicine, 1115 West Call Street, Tallahassee, FL, USA. Tel: 850.645.1742 Fax: 850.645.1773 e-mail: kimberly.driscoll@med.fsu.edu Submitted 21 May 2014. Accepted for publication 25 July 2014 613