An 11-year-old girl whose lips became so chapped they bled at school is now petitioning the district to let her use lip balm.
Grace Karaffa, a fifth-grader at Stuarts Draft Elementary School in Virginia, has suffered from dry lips for years and and repeatedly her requests for ChapStick have been turned down because the district considers the ointment an 'over-the-counter drug' that require's a doctor's note and must be held by the school nurse.
After a particularly painful episode, when Karaffa was refused ChapStick yet again and had to wet her cracking lips in the bathroom sink, she decided it was time to take action.
She started a petition which received over 300 signatures, and presented it in front of the August County school board last week.
Grace asked the board to consider changing the policy, calling it 'inappropriate'.
Her father, David Karaffa, serves as Beverly Manor district supervisor.
'I don't believe there is anything inside a generic ChapStick that would be classified as a drug,' he told Fox News. 'We would like the exception to be made so that kids in school can carry ChapStick.'
After her speech, the board cross-examined Karaffa with one member pointing out that the lip balm could be considered a distraction in class.
'She said, "I think it would be more distracting to have bleeding lips while I'm doing my work,"' Mr Karaffa recalled. 'That ended that line of questioning.'
The school board continues to review Grace's petition. In the meantime she plans to send thank you letters to the entire board, with a ChapStick tube included.
Assistant Superintendent George Earhart says the policy concerning lip balm was put in place after a disease outbreak.
'Our policy is not to be so restrictive. It is really a protection for the students,' he told the News-Leader.
Elementary School students can still use ChapStick, but they must first obtain a doctor's note, and then it must be kept in the nurse's office and applied there.
The school shares a space with a pre-kindergarden, and there are also fears that the tubes could be accidentally passed to the small children.
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