This is just so sad. This never should have happened to this little girl.
And yes, it sounds like the staff at the school really screwed up, if what the mom said in the TV interview is accurate. How could they reject an Epi-pen? I did find a medication form on the district's website that includes references to Epi-pens, and in the comments section of one version of this story, a parent of another child in this district says her child's school holds several Epis for kids.
Also very troubling is the part of the mother's interview where she says that one version of events is that someone "made" her child eat peanut. Ugh. Hopefully more information about the exposure and the school's reaction to it will come out soon.