209. HEALTH EXAMINATIONS

1. Purpose
 

1. In compliance with the School Code, the Board shall require that students of this district submit to appropriate health and dental examinations to ensure each student's health status is at an optimal level and that achievement is not lessened as a result of unresolved or undiagnosed health problems.

 

1. Each student shall receive a comprehensive health examination in the first, sixth, and ninth grades. These examinations shall be conducted by the school physician or school nurse practitioner. A private examination conducted at the parents' request and at their expense will be accepted in lieu of the school examination.

 
2. Annual vision tests shall also be given to each student. Other tests as determined by the Pennsylvania Advisory Health Board shall be as follows: hearing tests for children in grades one, two, three, six and eleven; tuberculosis tests for children in grades one and nine; height and weight examinations for children in grades one, two, four, six, eight and ten. Examinations will also be performed under the chid labor laws for students seeking employment certificates or working papers.

 
3. Each student shall receive a comprehensive dental examination in grades one through four. These examinations will be conducted by the school dentist or dental hygienist. A private examination conducted at the parents' request and at their expense will be accepted in lieu of the school examination. A program of dental education shall be provided to all children in prekindergarten through grade five.

 
4. For each student transferring to the schools of this district the Superintendent shall request an adequate health record from the transferring school.

 
5. The individual student records of health examinations shall be maintained as a confidential record subject to statute and the policies of this district.

 
6. A student who presents a statement signed by his/her parent or guardian that a medical examination is contrary to his/her religious beliefs shall be examined only when the Secretary of Health determines that the student presents a substantial health menace to the health of other persons.

 
7. Where it appears to school health officials or teachers that a child deviates from normal growth and development or where school examinations reveal conditions requiring health or dental care, the parent or guardian of the chid shall be so informed and a recommendation shall be made that the parent consult a private physician or dentist. The parent shall be required to report to the school the action taken subsequent to such notification.

 
8. When the parents or guardians inform the school of financial inability to provide an examination, the school shall advise them of the special educational medical procedures available in the district.

 
9. Parents and guardians of students who are to be examined shall be notified of such examinations. The notice shall include the date and location of the examination and encouragement that the parent or guardian attend. Such notice may also include notification that the parent may have the examination conducted privately at the parents' expense and encouragement that the parent do so in the interest of providing continuity in the student's health care; and, notification that the student may be exempted from such examination if it is contrary to the parents' religious beliefs.

 

1. The Principal shall instruct all staff members to observe students continually for conditions that indicate physical defect or disability and to report such conditions promptly to the school nurse.

 
2. When a principal receives a report of the existence of a communicable disease in a student's family, the school physician, school nurse practitioner or nurse must be notified.

 
3. If such staff are not available, the principal shall contact the Division of School Health Services and report the name of the pupil, address, grade, room number, last date of attendance, and reported communicable disease.

 
4. Any case of a communicable disease verified by the Attendance Office and not reported to the Department of Public Health, must be reported immediately to the principal by the Attendance Officer; the principal, in turn, shall promptly notify the School Health Services.

 
5. A school physician, school nurse practitioner, or nurse discovering a student in school with a communicable disease shall notify the principal immediately; the principal shall provide for the reporting of this information as noted above.

 
6. The school physician, school nurse practitioner, or nurse shall also report the above cases to the Division of School Health Services in order that further instructions regarding the case of the pupil may be given by the Division to the principal.

 
7. A pupil with a communicable disease may not be readmitted to school except upon written receipt of a physician's certificate of recovery or a statement that the illness is not communicable, or upon instruction from the school physician, school nurse practitioner, or nurse.

State School Code: Sections 1402, 1402(d), 1403, 1405, 1406, 1409, 1415, 1419
28, Section 23.44, 23.2(e)