WEST virginia legislature
2020 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 4917
By Delegates Caputo and Pyles
[Introduced February 11, 2020; Referred to the Committee on Education then Finance]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-5-22 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §18-9A-8 of said code, all relating to requirements for employment of nurses in public schools; changing student to school nurse staffing ratios; expanding its coverage to all grades; and elimination of the county’s ability to obtain contract services for nursing and mandate that every school must have at least one nurse.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-22. Medical and dental inspection; school nurses; specialized health procedures; establishment of council of school nurses.
(a) County boards shall provide proper medical and dental inspections for all pupils attending the schools of their county and 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.
(b) Each county board shall
employ full time at least one school nurse for every one thousand five
hundred 500 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 at each school: Provided,
however, That a county board may contract with a public health
department for services considered 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 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. An
appropriation may be made to the state department to be distributed to county
boards to support school health service needs that exceed the capacity of staff
as mandated in this section. Each county board shall apply to the state
superintendent for receipt of this funding in a manner set forth by the State Superintendent
that assesses and takes into account varying acuity levels of students with
specialized health care needs.
(c) Any person employed as a school nurse must be a registered professional nurse properly licensed by the West Virginia Board of Examiners for Registered Professional Nurses in accordance with §30-7-1 et seq. of this code.
(d) Specialized health
procedures that require the skill, knowledge and judgment of a licensed health
professional may be performed only by school nurses, other licensed school
health care providers as provided in this section, or school employees who have
been trained and retrained every two years who are 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, considered competent, have consultation may
consult with, and be is monitored or supervised by the school
nurse: Provided, That nothing in this section prohibits does
not 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. “School employee” means “teachers” as defined in §18-1-1
of this code and “aides” as defined in §18A-4-8 of this code. Commencing with
the school year beginning on July 1, 2002, “school employee” also means “secretary
I”, “secretary II” and “secretary III” as defined in §18A-4-8 of this code; and
Provided, however, That a “secretary I”, “secretary II” and “secretary
III” shall be limited to the dispensing of medications.
(e) Any school service employee who elects, or is required by this section, to undergo training or retraining to provide, in the manner specified in this section, the specialized health care procedures for those students for which the selection has been approved by both the principal and the county board shall receive additional pay of at least one pay grade higher than the highest pay grade for which the employee is paid: Provided, That any training required in this section may be considered in lieu of required in-service training of the school employee and a school employee may not be required to elect to undergo the training or retraining; Provided, however, That commencing with July 1, 1989, any newly employed school employee in the field of special education is required to undergo the training and retraining as provided in this section; and Provided further, That if an employee who holds a class title of an aide is employed in a school and the aide has received the training, pursuant to this section, then an employee in the field of special education is not required to perform the specialized health care procedures.
(f) 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 established under this section.
(g) There shall be 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 Commissioner of the Bureau for Public Health who shall consult with the State Department of Education. The state board then has the authority to promulgate a rule in accordance with the provisions of §29A-3B-1 et seq. of this code to implement the training and to create standards used by those school nurses and school employees performing specialized health procedures. The council shall meet every two years to review the certification and training program regarding school employees.
(h) 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 rule promulgated by the state board.
ARTICLE 9A. PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPPORT.
§18-9A-8. Foundation allowance for professional student support services.
(a) Until the 2019-2020 fiscal year, the basic foundation allowance to the county for professional student support personnel shall be the same amount of money as in the 2013 fiscal year, plus any additional amount of funding necessary to cover any increases in the State Minimum Salary Schedule set forth in §18A-4-2 of this code.
(b) Effective for the
2019-2020 fiscal year, and thereafter the basic foundation allowance to
the county for professional student support personnel is the amount of money
required to pay the state minimum salaries, in accordance with provisions of
§18A-4-1 et seq. of this code. subject to the following:
(1) In making this
computation, each county shall receive an allowance for five state aid eligible
professional student support personnel positions to each 1,000 students in net
enrollment: Provided, That nothing in this section precludes the county
from entering into public-private partnerships or other contracts to provide
these services;
(2) For any professional
student support personnel positions, or fraction thereof, determined for a
county pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection that exceed the number employed,
the county’s allowance for these positions shall be determined using the
average state funded salary of professional student support personnel for the
county;
(3) The number of and
the allowance for personnel paid in part by state and county funds shall be
prorated; and
(4) Where two or more
counties join together in support of a vocational or comprehensive high school
or any other program or service, the professional student support personnel for
the school or program may be prorated among the participating counties on the
basis of each one’s enrollment therein and the personnel shall be considered
within the above-stated limit.
(5) For the 2019-2020
fiscal year only, the number of positions funded for each county by subdivision
(1) cannot be less than the number of positions that would have been funded in
accordance with the previous methodology for determining the number of
professional student support personnel positions funded for each county
(c) Effective for the 2020-2021 fiscal year and thereafter, the basic foundation allowance to the county for professional support will be set at a level that funds the student-school nurse ratio set forth in §18-5-22(b) of this code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to change student to school nurse staffing ratios, expanding its coverage to all grades, and elimination the counties ability to obtain contract services for nursing and mandate that every school must have at least one nurse.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.