Should kids be allowed to use sunscreen at school?

A mom says two of her children were severely sunburned at school during field day. The school rules would not allow children to apply sunscreen to themselves without a doctor’s note.

From The Huffington Post:

“Two of my three children experienced significant sunburns. Like, hurts-to-look-at burns,” Jesse Michener from Washington wrote. It was raining that morning, so Michener didn’t apply sunscreen on her kids. But even if she had, the kids would have needed another coat once the sun came out (the AAP recommends applying sunscreen with an SPF of at least 15 every two hours). The girls weren’t allowed to put any sunblock on though, and the reason cited was school policy.”

“Tacoma Public School district spokesman Dan Voelpel told Yahoo! Shine that, according to statewide law, teachers are not allowed to apply sunscreen to students and students can only apply it to themselves if they have a doctor’s note… “

“Michener told The Huffington Post that adults made comments about her kids burning, but because of the law, did nothing about it. She wrote on her blog, “one of my children remarked that their teacher used sunscreen in her presence and that it was ‘just for her.’ So, is this an issue of passive, inactive supervision? Where is the collective awareness for student safety?” At the very least, a hat might have protected the girls, but, “alas, hats are not allowed at school, even on field day…”

“The school district has since apologized and informed Michener that a new law, “allowed for districts to make their own distinctions about what is and isn’t allowed at school with regard to sunscreen and other over-the-counter medications” and that the policy should be revised by October.”

I am pretty sure that for field day this year we were told to put sunscreen on in the morning and then send a bottle of it in their bags. I don’t know if either one actually used it but they had it.

Should kids be allowed to bring sunscreen to school? Should schools allow children to put on sunscreen at school? Should teachers be responsible for noticing if a child is getting too much sun?