The Board of Education recognizes that good student health is vital to successful learning and realizes its responsibility, along with that of parent(s) or guardian(s), to protect and foster a safe and healthful environment for the students.
The school shall work closely with students’ families to provide detection and preventive health services. In accordance with law, the school will provide vision, hearing and scoliosis screening. Problems shall be referred to the parent(s) or guardian(s) who shall be encouraged to have their family licensed health care provider/dentist provide appropriate care.
The McKinney-Vento liaison shall assist homeless students covered by that law in accessing health services described in this policy and accompanying regulation.
In order to enroll in school a student must have a health examination and submit a health certificate within 30 calendar days after entering school, and upon entering Pre-K or Kindergarten, and first, third, fifth, seventh, ninth and eleventh grades. The examination must have been conducted no more than 12 months before the first day of the school year in question. If a student is unable to furnish the health certificate, the school will provide a physical examination by a licensed provider. A request for exemption from the physical examination, or the requirement to provide a health certificate, must be made in writing to the school principal or designee, who may require documents supporting the request. The only basis for exemption is a claim that the physical examination is in conflict with the parent or guardian’s genuine and sincere religious belief.
In addition, students will be asked to provide a dental health certificate from a licensed dentist at the same time that a health certificate is required.
Schools shall also provide emergency care for students in accidental or unexpected medical situations. The District will stock epinephrine auto-injectors for non-patient specific use in accordance with the Public Health Law. The District shall ensure that designated staff are appropriately trained.
A permanent student health record shall be part of a student’s cumulative school record and should follow the student from grade to grade and school to school along with his/her academic record. This record folder shall be maintained by the school nurse.
In the event that a child is denied entrance to school for failure to comply with the immunization requirements, the parent and/or legal guardian may petition the matter to the Commissioner of Education.
Communicable Diseases
It is the responsibility of the Board to provide all students with a safe and healthy school environment. To meet this responsibility, it is sometimes necessary to exclude students with contagious and infectious diseases, as defined in the Public Health Law, from attendance in school. Students will be excluded during periods of contagion for time periods indicated on a chart developed by the school nurse.
During an outbreak of these communicable diseases, if the Commissioner of Health or his/her designee so orders, the District will exclude students from school who have an exemption from immunization or who are in the process of obtaining immunization.
It is the responsibility of the Superintendent of Schools, working through District health personnel, to enforce this policy and to contact the county or local health department when a reportable case of a communicable disease is identified in the student or staff population.
Administering Medication to Students
Neither the Board nor District staff members shall be responsible for the diagnosis or treatment of student illness. The administration of prescribed medication to a student during school hours shall be permitted only when failure to take such medicine would jeopardize the health of the student, or the student would not be able to attend school if the medicine were not made available to him/her during school hours, or where it is done pursuant to law requiring accommodation to a student’s special medical needs (e.g., Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973). “Medication” will include all medicines prescribed by a health care provider licensed to prescribe.
Before any medication may be administered to, or by, any student during school hours, the Board requires:
- the written request of the parent(s) or guardian(s), which shall give permission for such administration and relieve the Board and its employees of liability for administration of medication;
- the written order of the prescribing authorized medical provider, which will include the purpose of the medication, the dosage, the time at which or the special circumstances under which medication shall be administered, the period for which medication is prescribed, and the possible side effects of the medication; and
- that in order for a student to carry and use a rescue inhaler, an epinephrine auto-injector, insulin, or glucagon and associated testing supplies, written permission must be provided both by the parent and the prescribing authorized medical provider in accordance with state law and regulation.
Both documents shall be kept on file in the office of the school nurse.
Students are allowed to carry and apply parentally provided sunscreen without a prescription from a medical provider, assuming that the sunscreen is FDA approved and that the sunscreen is not treating a medical condition. Parents need to provide the district with written permission for students to use sunscreen.
Life-Threatening Allergies and Anaphylaxis Management
When a student has a known life-threatening allergy reported on their health form or if the District has been informed by the parent of the presence of a life-threatening allergy, the District will assemble a team, which may include the parent, the school nurse, the child’s teacher, the building principal and other appropriate personnel, which will be charged with developing an individual health care plan and/or an emergency action plan. The plan will be maintained by the school nurse and reviewed annually. The plan will guide prevention and response. If the student is eligible for accommodations based upon the IDEA, Section 504 or the Americans with Disabilities Act, the appropriate procedures will be followed regarding identification, evaluation and implementation of accommodations.
Regulations
The Superintendent shall develop comprehensive regulations governing student health services. Those regulations shall include the provision of all health services required by law, procedures for the maintenance of health records, and procedures for the administering of medication to students.
Ref:
- Education Law §§310 (provisions for appeal of child denied school entrance for failure to comply with immunization requirements); 901 et seq. (medical, dental and health services); 916 (student self-administration of rescue inhalers); 916-a (student self- administration of epinephrine; 916-b (students with diabetes); 921 (epinephrine auto-injectors; training of unlicensed personnel); 6909 (emergency treatment of anaphylaxis)
- Public Health Law §§613 (annual survey); 2164 (immunization requirements)
- 8 NYCRR § 64.7 (administration of agents to treat anaphylaxis); Part 136 (school health services program)
- Administration of Medication in the School Setting Guidelines, State Education Department, revised April 2002
- Immunization Guidelines: Vaccine Preventable Communicable Disease Control, State Education Department, revised August 2000
- Making the Difference: Caring for Students with Life-Threatening Allergies, New York State Department of Health, New York State Education Department, New York Statewide School Health Service Center, June 2008
Adoption date: May 27, 1997
Revised: September 24, 2001
Revised: November 12, 2002
Revised: August 13, 2018