Section 14-1402 - Health services(a) Each child of school age shall be given by methods established by the Advisory Health Board, (1) a hearing test by a school nurse or medical technician, (2) a measurement of height and weight by a school nurse or teacher, who shall use the measurement to compute a child's weight-for-height ratio, (3) tests for tuberculosis under medical supervision, and (4) such other tests as the Advisory Health Board may deem advisable to protect the health of the child. (a.1) Every child of school age shall be provided with school nurse services: Provided, however, That the number of pupils under the care of each school nurse shall not exceed one thousand five hundred (1,500).(a.2) In a school district that provided school nurse services to a nonpublic school during the 2018-2019 school year and received State funding in accordance with section 2505.1, the school district shall continue to provide nurse services to every child of school age enrolled in the nonpublic school and receive State funding for school nurse services in accordance with section 2505.1. (b) For each child of school age, a comprehensive health record shall be maintained by the school district or joint school board, which shall include the results of the tests, measurements and regularly scheduled examinations and special examinations herein specified.(c) Medical questionnaires, suitable for diagnostic purposes, furnished by the Secretary of Health and completed by the child or by the child's parent or guardian, at such times as the Secretary of Health may direct, shall become a part of the child's health record.(d) All teachers shall report to the school nurse or school physician any unusual behavior, changes in physical appearance, changes in attendance habits and changes in scholastic achievement, which may indicate impairment of a child's health. The nurse or school physician or school dentist may, upon referral by the teacher or on his own initiative, advise a child's parent or guardian of the apparent need for a special medical or dental examination. If a parent or guardian fails to report the results to the nurse or school physician, the nurse or school physician shall arrange a special medical examination for the child.(e) The school physicians of each district or joint board shall make a medical examination and a comprehensive appraisal of the health of every child of school age, (1) upon original entry into school in the Commonwealth, (2) while in sixth grade, (3) while in eleventh grade, and (4) prior to the issuance of a farm or domestic service permit unless the child has been given a scheduled or special medical examination within the preceding four months. The health record of the child shall be made available to the school physician at the time of the regularly scheduled health appraisals.(e.1) The following shall apply: (1) A school nurse, school physician or designated employe of a school entity shall remove a tick from a student in accordance with guidelines issued by the Secretary of Health. The tick shall:(i) be preserved for the parent or guardian of the student to send to the Tick Research Lab of Pennsylvania for testing, if the parent or guardian chooses to do so. The school entity shall provide information to the parent or guardian on how to send the tick to the Tick Research Lab of Pennsylvania; or(ii) be sent directly by the school entity to the Tick Research Lab of Pennsylvania for testing using the free basic panel tick test. Upon receiving the results, the school entity shall provide the original results to the child's parent or guardian. the school entity: (A) Shall not make a copy of the results or include any information regarding the results in the child's school medical record.(B) May notate the diseases present in the tick, with no identifying or personal information of the child, for the purposes of compiling data as to what diseases are present in the ticks on and around the school entity's property.(2) After a tick is removed from a student, the school entity shall notify in writing the parent or guardian of the student. The notice shall state that:(i) A tick was removed from your child today. Ticks can transmit disease and make people sick. A common illness caused by ticks in Pennsylvania is Lyme disease.(ii) Not all tick bites lead to Lyme disease.(iii) The parent or guardian should record the date on which the tick was removed.(iv) It is recommended that the parent or guardian seek medical treatment from the child's doctor promptly if they notice any early signs or symptoms of illness within three (3) to thirty (30) days of the date of removal. Some people with Lyme disease will get a bulls-eye rash. Others may have an atypical rash. Not everyone who has Lyme disease gets a rash. Other symptoms which may occur during the early stages of Lyme disease include chills, fever, headache, tiredness, stiff neck, joint pain or swelling and swollen lymph nodes. Lyme disease is treated with antibiotics. If untreated, infection may progress to joint, heart, brain or nerve abnormalities.(e.2) The Secretary of Health shall publish guidelines consistent with subsection (e.1) on the Department of Health's publicly accessible Internet website and, in consultation with the Secretary of Education, provide the guidelines to school entities.(f) The Secretary of Health, upon petition of the school board or joint school board or on his own initiative with the concurrence of the school board or joint school board, may modify for individual school districts the school health services program specified in this section. The program as modified shall conform to approved medical or dental practices and shall permit valid statistical appraisals of the various components of the program.(g) As used in this section, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: "Nonpublic school" means a school, other than a public school within this Commonwealth, wherein a resident of this Commonwealth may legally fulfill the compulsory school attendance requirements of this act and which meet the requirements of Title VI of the Civil Rights act of 1964 ( Public Law 88-352, 42 U.S.C. § 2000 et seq.).
"School entity" means a school district, intermediate unit, charter school, cyber charter school, regional charter school or area career and technical school.
Amended by P.L. (number not assigned at time of publication) 2024 No. 120,§ 1, eff. 12/30/2024.Amended by P.L. TBD 2022 No. 55, § 23, eff. 7/8/2022.Amended by P.L. TBD 2020 No. 122, § 1, eff. 1/24/2021.1949, March 10, P.L. 30, art. XIV, § 1402, added 1957, July 15, P.L. 937, § 2. Amended 1961, Sept. 29, P.L. 1743, § 1; 1963, Aug. 9, P.L. 642, § 1; 1965, Dec. 7, P.L. 1041, § 1; 2006, July 11, P.L. 1092, No. 114, § 2.5, imd. effective.