Whether its peanuts, latex, strawberries or bee stings, kids at Old Rochester Regional schools with life-threatening allergies will now have added support.

On Thursday, the Old Rochester Regional Joint School Committee passed a “comprehensive” Life Threatening Allergy Policy that details responsibilities for each member of the school community, from faculty to students.

Among the new regulations is a peanut and tree nut free table at cafeterias that will reduce the possibility of cross-contamination. Schools will also maintain a school-wide plan to address allergic reactions and training on allergies will be mandatory for all faculty and staff.

“The basis of this policy is education — to educate all of the staff, the parents, the kids,” said Grace Knox, a member of the policy sub-committee.

Although, most policies require two separate reviews by the Joint School Committee, the Life Threatening Allergy Policy was passed after a single read.

Knox said, “It’s a nonstandard practice because we have an emergency to educate our staff on the needs of children with life-threatening allergies.”

Sub-committee member Tina Rood, who has a child with a life-threatening allergy said, “This is a safety issue for our students. Everyone is impacted by this from top to bottom.”

Sub-committee members said the policy is meant to be comprehensive, but there is also room to change it.

“We view these as living, breathing policies,” said Christine Winters. “If we find through communication with all of the folks involved that something needs to be adjusted, we’ll go ahead.”

Ultimately, the goal is to provide a safe environment for all students.

Meagan Bennett’s son has a life-threatening allergy and she was one of several parents who pushed to get the policy passed.

“There are always people who don’t understand, because they aren’t educated on food allergies, how a simple little cross-contamination could come to ending a child’s life,” she said.