Know Your Rights. Get Your Free CHD Back-to-School Toolkit

Backpack, check. Pencils, check. Lunchbox, check.

But there’s a longer list most parents never get handed: What’s actually in the cafeteria food, what your state allows for vaccine exemptions, what a school-based health clinic can do without you in the room, and what your rights are when it comes to curriculum, library books, and your child’s privacy.

We built the Back-to-School Toolkit to close that gap. Instead of sending you one overwhelming download, we’re breaking it into five short, focused guides — one a week, for the next several weeks.

Each one gives you plain-language questions to bring to your school or pediatrician, so you walk into those conversations prepared instead of caught off guard.

Here’s what’s coming:

Vaccines & Informed Consent — What’s actually in a vaccine information sheet versus a package insert, and the questions worth asking before your child’s next shot.

Safe Food — What recent testing has found in school cafeteria food, and how to push for more transparency on what’s served.

Safe Tech — How Wi-Fi, tablets, and nearby cell towers add up to daily wireless exposure, and what schools can do to reduce it.

School-Based Health Centers — What these on-campus clinics can treat, what requires your consent, and what to know before signing anything.

Curriculum, Books & Privacy — Your right to opt out of certain instruction, review library materials, and protect your child’s privacy under federal law.

CHD.TV Schedule — Make sure to tune in for these important Back-to-School shows:

• Fri, 7/31 — Polly Tommey & Theresa Wrangham: Consent Forms Parents Sign
• Mon, 8/3 — Polly Tommey & Bella Yon: School Lunches
• Wed, 8/12 — Miriam Eckenfels: EMR in Schools
• Mon, 8/17 — Polly Tommey & Kim Mack Rosenberg: School-Based Health Centers
• More shows will be added

Read this article about mental health screenings in schools in today’s The Defender.

You don’t need to become an expert in any of this. You just need to ask the right questions — we’ll share those, one topic at a time.

Get the full toolkit now.

Know another parent or caregiver who could use this info? Share this article or the toolkit.

When more of us are informed and ask these questions, we build stronger, safer schools and communities for every child.

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Children's Health Defense Team