Senate Bill No. 1008
(By Senator Tomblin (Mr. President))
(By Request of the Executive)
____________
[Introduced May 13, 2010; referred to the
Committee on Education; and then to
the Committee on Finance.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-5-17 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to compulsory comprehensive health
screening for students entering public school for the first
time in this state, students entering third grade, students
entering sixth grade and students entering ninth grade;
defining terms; and limiting developmental screening.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-5-17 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-17
.
Kids First compulsory comprehensive health screening;
developmental screening for children under compulsory
school age.
(a)
Prior to January 1, 2011, all children entering public school for the first time in this state shall be given prior to
their enrollments screening tests to determine if they might have
vision or hearing impairments or speech and language disabilities.
County boards of education may provide, upon request,
such the
screening tests to all children entering nonpublic school. County
boards of education shall conduct these screening tests for all
children through the use of trained personnel. Parents or
guardians of children who are found to have vision or hearing
impairments or speech and language disabilities shall be notified
of the results of these tests and advised that further diagnosis
and treatment of the impairments or disabilities by qualified
professional personnel is recommended.
(b) Effective January 1, 2011:
_____(1) Students entering public school for the first time in this
state, students entering third grade, students entering sixth grade
and students entering ninth grade are required to have a
comprehensive health screening. Parents or guardians shall provide
appropriate documentation of a comprehensive health screening
within forty-five days of a student's entering public school for
the first time in this state or within forty-five days of a
student's entering third, sixth or ninth grade, as applicable.
_____(2) For the purposes of this section, "comprehensive health
screening" means a screening protocol developed by the state board
in consultation with the Department of Health and Human Resources that includes, but is not limited to, hearing, vision, speech,
language, current health indicators and growth development.
_____(3) County boards shall:
_____(A) Coordinate with parents or guardians and community health
care providers to ensure that the requirements of this subsection
are communicated to all parties;
_____(B) Enter all comprehensive health screening data in the West
Virginia Education Information System; and___
_____(C) Coordinate with parents or guardians and community health
care providers to ensure that suspected deficits identified through
a comprehensive health screening are addressed through referral to
specialty healthcare providers, county board student support
services or both.
_____(b) (c) County boards
of education shall provide or contract
with appropriate health agencies to provide, upon the request of a
parent or guardian residing within the district, developmental
screening for their child or children under compulsory school
attendance age:
Provided, That a county board is not required to
provide
such developmental screening to the same child more than
once in any one school year.
Effective January 1, 2011, a county
board shall provide developmental screening for a child only if a
comprehensive health screening identifies a suspected deficit.
Developmental screening is the process of measuring the progress of
children to determine if there are problems or potential problems
or advanced abilities in the areas of understanding language,
perception through sight, perception through hearing, motor
development and hand-eye coordination, health, and psycho-social or
physical development. The boards shall coordinate the provision of
developmental screening with other public agencies and the
interagency plan for exceptional children under section eight,
article twenty of this chapter to avoid the duplication of services
and to facilitate the referral of children and their parents or
guardians who need other services. The county boards shall provide
notice to the public of the availability of these services.
(c) (d) The state
Board of Education is hereby authorized to
may promulgate rules consistent with this section. The State
Superintendent is directed to apply for federal funds, if
available, for the implementation of the requirements of this
section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require compulsory
comprehensive health screening for students entering public school
for the first time in this state and students entering third, sixth
and ninth grades. Use of developmental screening for determination
of advanced abilities is eliminated.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
Email
Webmaster | © 2024 West Virginia Legislature **
