Girls badly sunburned when school requires doctor's note for sunscreen

Violet MIchener is seen with a second degree sunburn after she spent five hours outdoors at her school's 'Field Day.' (Q13Fox)

A Tacoma, Wash., mom is seeing red after her fair-skinned daughters returned home from school severely sunburned.

Violet and Zoe Michener were outside for five hours during the school's year-end 'Field Day,' and when they returned home, they had burns and blisters, according to their mother Jesse Michener. Michener says she took her children to a local hospital in order to document the severity of the burns.

Michener says she did not give the girls sunscreen because it was raining when they left for school. She says school officials should have been able to let them apply sunscreen when the sun came out--especially since Zoe, 9, has a form of albinism.

But the school district's policy only allows for sunscreen to be applied when the student has a signed doctor's note giving the okay, because the district considers sunscreen a medication. Dan Voelpel, a spokesman for Tacoma School District, cited additives that cause allergic reactions as a reason for the policy.

Michener told Q13Fox that she is writing letters to the district and school board regarding a change in sunscreen policies.

Washington isn’t the only state to ban sunscreen without a doctor’s note.  In fact, California is the only state that allows sunscreen without permission from a doctor.

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