Type 1 diabetes at school in Florida
What Florida law and the state’s own guidance say about insulin, glucagon, supplies and phones at school, with each source quoted. Checked 2026-10-06.
| Insulin by trained staff | With limits |
| Glucagon by trained staff | Yes |
| Self-carry | Yes |
| State plan or guidelines | No source found |
| Phone for the CGM | Yes |
Can trained school staff give insulin?
With limits
Fla. Admin. Code R. 6A-6.0253(2) requires licensed nurses or trained school personnel at each school to provide the necessary diabetes care, but no state source found names insulin. Under Fla. Stat. § 1006.062(5), a nurse or physician decides if nonmedical school staff may perform an invasive medical service not listed in the statute. (flrules.org; leg.state.fl.us)
The American Diabetes Association’s Florida page reads this differently: ADA answers yes from the same rule; the rule text says 'necessary diabetes care' and does not name insulin.
Can trained school staff give glucagon?
Yes
Trained school personnel may give glucagon to a student in a hypoglycemic emergency after they complete training (Fla. Stat. § 1002.20(3)(j)). Fla. Stat. § 1006.062(4) also lets trained nonmedical staff give emergency injectable medication under periodic nurse or physician monitoring. (leg.state.fl.us)
Can a student carry supplies and manage diabetes at school?
Yes
With written authorization from the parent and physician, a student may carry diabetes supplies and manage diabetes care at school, at school activities, and in transit, including glucose checks, insulin, and treatment of lows (Fla. Stat. § 1002.20(3)(j)). (leg.state.fl.us)
Does the state publish a diabetes care plan form or guidelines?
No source found
Fla. Admin. Code R. 6A-6.0253 defines a Diabetes Medical Management Plan but no state DMMP form was found. The Department of Health 2015 diabetes care and delegation guidelines that ADA links now return 404. We found no statute or state agency page that answers this for Florida. Ask the school nurse or the state Department of Education, and see the American Diabetes Association’s Florida page.
The American Diabetes Association’s Florida page reads this differently: ADA links the Department of Health 2015 delegation guidelines PDF, which no longer loads at its official URL.
Can a student keep a phone for the CGM in class?
Yes
Fla. Stat. § 1006.07(2)(f) limits student phone use, but each school board must allow phone use during the school day under a student's IEP, 504 plan, or a physician's note that certifies the student needs the device. The statute does not name diabetes or CGM. (leg.state.fl.us)
The American Diabetes Association’s Florida page reads this differently: ADA says the ban has no medical exception and quotes the older § 1003.02 text; current § 1006.07(2)(f) has an IEP, 504 plan, and physician-note exception.
Also in Florida
A school district may not restrict a student with diabetes to a particular school because the school lacks a full-time nurse or trained diabetes personnel. Since HB 597 (2025), a public school may keep a supply of undesignated glucagon (Fla. Stat. § 1002.20(3)(j)). (leg.state.fl.us; flrules.org)
Federal law applies in every state
Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act can cover a student with diabetes at a public school in every state, whatever the state law says; a 504 plan is where the student’s care at school is written down. The federal rules, with sources.
Sources, quoted
- flrules.org: “School districts must have appropriate personnel, whether licensed nurses or trained school personnel, assigned to each school a student with diabetes would otherwise attend if he or she did not have diabetes.” (the site blocks automated checks; checked by hand)
- leg.state.fl.us: “For all other invasive medical services not listed in this subsection, a registered nurse or advanced practice registered nurse licensed under chapter 464, a physician licensed pursuant to chapter 458 or chapter 459, or a physician assistant licensed pursuant to chapter 458 or chapter 459 shall determine if nonmedical district school board personnel shall be allowed to perform such service.”
- leg.state.fl.us: “A school nurse or trained school personnel shall administer glucagon to students only if such school nurse or trained school personnel has successfully completed training and believe in good faith that the student is experiencing a hypoglycemic emergency.”
- leg.state.fl.us: “All procedures shall be monitored periodically by a nurse, advanced practice registered nurse, physician assistant, or physician, including, but not limited to: (a) Intermittent clean catheterization. (b) Gastrostomy tube feeding. (c) Monitoring blood glucose. (d) Administering emergency injectable medication.”
- leg.state.fl.us: “Diabetic students whose parent and physician provide their written authorization to the school principal may carry diabetic supplies and equipment on their person and attend to the management and care of their diabetes while in school, participating in school-sponsored activities, or in transit to or from school or school-sponsored activities to the extent authorized by the parent and physician and within the parameters set forth by State Board of Education rule.”
- leg.state.fl.us: “The written authorization shall identify the diabetic supplies and equipment that the student is authorized to carry and shall describe the activities the child is capable of performing without assistance, such as performing blood-glucose level checks and urine ketone testing, administering insulin through the insulin-delivery system used by the student, and treating hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia.”
- leg.state.fl.us: “Allowing the use of a wireless communications device by a student during the school day in accordance with: a. The student's individualized education plan; b. The student's 504 accommodation plan issued under s. 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; or c. A doctor's note from a physician licensed under chapter 458 or chapter 459 certifying in writing that the student requires the use of a wireless communications device based upon valid clinical reasoning or evidence.”
- leg.state.fl.us: “A school district may not restrict the assignment of a student who has diabetes to a particular school on the basis that the student has diabetes, that the school does not have a full-time school nurse, or that the school does not have trained diabetes personnel.”
- leg.state.fl.us: “A school district or public school may acquire and maintain a supply of undesignated glucagon for the purpose of treating a student with diabetes experiencing a hypoglycemic emergency.”
- flrules.org: “During the 2025 Legislative Session, section 1002.20, Florida Statutes, was amended with the passing of House Bill 597, Diabetes Management in Schools.”
Legal information, not legal advice. Laws change; the source page is the authority when it differs, and this page is rechecked each July. For help with a school, the American Diabetes Association’s legal advocates answer at 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383).