H.
B.
4198
(By Delegate Paxton)
[Introduced January 28, 1994; referred to the
Committee on Education.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-two, article five, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend article twenty of said chapter by adding thereto a new section, designated section two-a, all relating to special education training requirements; requiring only special education personnel to undergo training and retraining; setting standards for personnel dispensing medications; and mandating the attendance at individualized education program meetings of all teachers involved.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-two, article five, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that article twenty of said chapter be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section two-a, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§
18
-
5
-
22. Medical and dental inspection; school nurses;
specialized health procedures; establishment of
council of school nurses.
County boards of education shall provide proper medical and dental inspections for all pupils attending the schools of their county and shall further have the authority to take any other action necessary to protect the pupils from infectious diseases, including the authority to require from all school personnel employed in their county, certificates of good health and of physical fitness.
Each county board of education shall employ full time at least one school nurse for every one thousand five hundred kindergarten through seventh grade pupils in net enrollment or major fraction thereof:
Provided,
That each county shall employ full time at least one school nurse:
Provided, however,
That a county board may contract with a public health department for services deemed equivalent to those required by this section in accordance with a plan to be approved by the state board:
Provided further,
That the state board shall promulgate rules and regulations requiring the employment of school nurses in excess of the number required by this section to ensure adequate provision of services to severely handicapped pupils.
Any person employed as a school nurse shall be a registered professional nurse properly licensed by the West Virginia board of examiners for registered professional nurses in accordance with article seven, chapter thirty of this code.
Beginning with the school year one thousand nine hundred ninety--ninety-one, specialized health procedures that require the skill, knowledge and judgment of a licensed health professional, shall be performed only by school nurses, other licensed school health care providers as provided for in this section, or school employees who have been elect to be trained and retrained every two years and subject to the supervision and approval by school nurses. After assessing the health status of the individual student, a school nurse, in collaboration with the student's physician, parents and in some instances an individualized education program team, may delegate certain health care procedures to a school employee who shall be trained pursuant to this section, deemed competent, have consultation with, and be monitored or supervised by the school nurse:
Provided,
That nothing herein shall prohibit any school employee from providing specialized health procedures or any other prudent action to aid any person who is in acute physical distress or requires emergency assistance. For the purposes of this section "specialized health procedures" means, but is not limited to, catheterization, suctioning of tracheostomy, naso-gastric tube feeding or gastrostomy tube feeding; and "school employee" means teachers as defined in section one, article one of this chapter and aides as defined in section eight, article four-a, chapter eighteen-a of this code.
Any school employee who elects to undergo training or retraining to provide, in the manner specified herein, such specialized health care procedures and for whom such selection has been approved by both the principal and the county board, may receive additional pay at the discretion of the county board:
Provided,
That any training may be considered in lieu of required in-service training of such school employee and a school employee cannot be required to elect to undergo the training or retraining:
Provided, however,
That commencing with the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, any newly employed school employee in the field of special education shall be required to undergo the training and retraining as provided for in this section:
Provided
further,
That no school employee other than special education employees may be required to undergo such training and retraining.
No school employee may be required to dispense medication to students unless they have been trained pursuant to this section, deemed competent, have consultation with, and be monitored or supervised by the school nurse.
Each county school nurse, as designated and defined by this section, shall perform a needs assessment. These nurses shall meet on the basis of the area served by their regional educational service agency, prepare recommendations and elect a representative to serve on the council of school nurses.
There shall be established a council of school nurses which shall be convened by the state board of education. This council shall prepare a procedural manual and shall provide recommendations regarding a training course to the director of the state department of health who shall consult with the state department of education. The state department of health shall then have the authority to promulgate rules and regulations to implement the training and to create standards used by those performing specialized health procedures. The council shall meet every two years to review the certification and training program regarding school employees.
The state board of education shall work in conjunction with county boards to provide training and retraining every two years as recommended by the council of school nurses and implemented by the state department of health.
ARTICLE 20. EDUCATION OF EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN.
§
18-20-2a.
Individualized educational programs.
Individualized educational program meetings for exceptional children, as prescribed in section one, article twenty of this chapter, shall be attended by all teachers who are to provide educational services to the exceptional child as set forth in that child's individualized educational program.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify training requirements for special education and make certain training mandatory only for special education personnel. The bill also prevents personnel from being required to dispense medications and requires attendance at individualized education program meetings of all affected teachers.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
§18-20-2a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.
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