Bill Text: WV HB2336 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Reducing the number of pupils per school nurses
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-10 - To House Education [HB2336 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2018-HB2336-Introduced.html
WEST virginia
legislature
2017 regular session
By
[
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, relating to reducing the number of pupils per
school nurses employed by county boards of education.
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-5-22 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD
OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-22. 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 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 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 article seven, chapter thirty 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 with, and be monitored or supervised by the school nurse: Provided,
That nothing in this section prohibits 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 section one, article one of this chapter and
"aides" as defined in section eight, article four, chapter eighteen-a
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 section eight, article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code:
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:
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 article three-b, chapter twenty-nine-a 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.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is
to reduce the ratio of pupils to school nurses employed by county boards of
education from one per every 1,500 pupils in K through seventh grade to one per
every 1,000 pupils.
Strike-throughs indicate language
that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring
indicates new language that would be added.
