Making A Difference

This link contains a pdf of the NJ Lyme Disease Curriculum Guidelines adopted in the mid-90s by the NJ State legislature under 18A, NJ education law (see law below). It is the only state-adopted Lyme curriculum in the US. The curriculum is still in place (note: reference materials cited in the Guidelines are old, but goals, objectives and strategies are still valid). Often, states don’t want to be first to pass laws or “reinvent the wheel,” so they look to models in other states. Advocates for children with Lyme can possibly use these Guidelines to help them promote the need to address Lyme in their schools. LDA President Pat Smith had input into the development and passage of the Guidelines while she was on the NJ Governor’s Lyme Disease Advisory Council.

•18A:35-5.1. Lyme Disease curriculum guidelines
1. The Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Commissioner of Health, shall develop curriculum guidelines for the teaching of information on the prevention of Lyme Disease within the public school health curriculum. The guidelines shall emphasize disease prevention and sensitivity for victims of the disease. The Commissioner of Education shall periodically review and update the guidelines to insure that the curriculum reflects the most current information available.

•18A:35-5.2. Availability of guidelines
2. The commissioner shall make the curriculum guidelines available to all school districts in the State and shall encourage their adoption by those districts which are located in areas of the State which have a high incidence of Lyme Disease.

•18A:35-5.3. Guidelines for, training of teachers instructing infected students