Emma LaViolette didn't watch Gov. Chris Gregoire sign the legislation her family lobbied hard for in the state Legislature.
Instead, the 5-year-old caught a screening of Horton Hears a Who!
But her mom and grandma were in Olympia for the ceremony, and they say the new law will help children like Emma, of West Richland, who has a life-threatening peanut allergy, stay safe at school.
The bill requires school districts to develop policies dealing with anaphylaxis, the serious allergic reaction most commonly triggered by exposure to things such as some foods and insect stings.
Gov. Gregoire signed the bill last week.
Emma is so allergic to peanuts that just touching one put her in the hospital for two days when she was a toddler.
She starts kindergarten next fall, and family members wanted to limit her chances of exposure in classrooms and hallways.
As they talked to other parents, "we saw (anaphylaxis policies) needed to be statewide. This is not just our battle, but a larger battle," said Theresa Hancock, Emma's grandmother.
Hancock also is a member of the Sunnyside City Council. She and Cheyenne LaViolette traveled to Olympia to lobby legislators.
It's estimated that about 2.2 million school-age children in the U.S. have food allergies, including about 400,000 who are allergic to peanuts.
The bill requires the state superintendent's office to develop guidelines -- with help from health and school officials and parents -- for preventing anaphylaxis and helping students who have such allergies.
Districts will use the guidelines to draft their own policies by September 2009.
LaViolette and Hancock said Gregoire told of a fifth-grade classmate who had an anaphylactic reaction and talked about her own walnut allergy.
"She said the bill was very near and dear to her," Hancock said.
"It still is going to be in the hands of the school districts to adopt these (policies). The work isn't done yet," Hancock added. "This is a very good start."
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