LAND O' LAKES, Fla. -- Pasco County Schools held a public hearing on several policy updates Tuesday, including its proposed medical marijuana regulations.

No one from the community addressed the school board on the issue, and officials said that may be because it's not a real change for the district.

  • Policy allows primary caregivers to administer medical marijuana
  • District employees will not administer or store the medication
  • Next and final step for district is a school board vote
  • More Pasco County stories

"We were already accommodating these situations, but unfortunately, fortunately, the directive we got from the Florida Department of Education is they wanted it formally in policy," said Assistant Superintendent for Administration Kevin Shibley. 

The policy states that students can receive medical marijuana from a primary caregiver as recommended by a physician. When it comes to administering or storing the medication, the district will be hands off.

"The parent has to do it. We are not doing it," said Superintendent Kurt Browning. "School nurses, clinic assistants, administrators, teachers -- we are not administering medical marijuana."

State law requires that all Florida districts submit a draft medical marijuana policy by Dec. 1. School boards then have until the end of the year to adopt a plan.

Browning told board members that the state let the district know they could lose funding if they didn't adopt a formal policy.

"It's one of those things that's becoming normal, and we're not talking about marijuana that makes you high. It's a medical derivative of cannabis," said Browning.

Part of the new policy suggests the district is concerned about potentially losing funding at the federal level, as well -- in this case, because of adopting the regulation.

"If the Federal government indicates that the School Board's Federal funds are jeopardized by this specific policy provision, then the same shall be immediately suspended," the policy reads.

Browning said the next and final step for the district is a school board vote on the policy. He said he expects it to pass at an upcoming meeting.