BILL REQ. #:  H-0892.1 

Read first time 01/26/2005.   Referred to Committee on Health Care.

     AN ACT Relating to improving the delivery of health care services for school-aged children; adding a new section to chapter 28A.210 RCW; creating new sections; making an appropriation; and providing an expiration date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that schools are increasingly required to play an expanding role in protecting our children's health. Schools are responsible for monitoring the immunization of children, evaluating children's hearing and vision, and screening for scoliosis. Chronically ill children often require medically ordered treatment to enable them to attend school. Medication is often required to be given to children during the school day. Schools are also responsible for identifying and reporting child abuse, identifying drug and alcohol problems, treating emergencies, providing counseling and assistance for teenage parents, and providing AIDS, human growth and development, and personal safety education. Schools are asked to coordinate with families and community services to manage students with significant health problems and to make referrals to appropriate community services. Schools are required to abide by rules of confidentiality and to properly maintain health care records. The legislature finds that additional school nurses with the appropriate expertise are needed in our schools to play a pivotal role in improving the health and educational success of the school-age child.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.210 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Beginning with the 2006-07 school year, each class I school district shall maintain a ratio of at least one school nurse for every two thousand full-time equivalent students. Beginning in the 2008-09 school year, each class I school district shall maintain a ratio of at least one school nurse for every one thousand five hundred full-time equivalent students.
     (2) The state board of education shall adopt rules providing for the initial and continuing certification for certified school nurses.
     (a) All school nurses in class I school districts must apply for certification within one year after the effective date of this section.
     (b) A class II school district may continue to hire persons who meet the requirements of RCW 28A.210.300 and are not required to be certified under this section.
     (3) As used in this section, "school nurse" means a person who:
     (a) Holds a bachelor of science degree in nursing, including training in public health nursing;
     (b) Holds a valid license as a registered nurse (RN) in Washington state; and
     (c) Is certified as an educational staff associate under the requirements established by the office of the superintendent of public instruction.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   By December 31, 2008, the superintendent of public instruction shall submit a report to the legislature on the implementation of section 2 of this act and the impact of the services provided. The report shall include recommendations about whether funding for school nurses should be an ongoing responsibility of the state and part of basic education. The office of the superintendent of public instruction has the authority to write rules necessary to implement this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   The school nurse account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. All receipts from gifts, grants, or endowments obtained under section 5 of this act must be deposited into the account. Expenditures from the account may be used only for supporting the ratio provided in section 2 of this act. Only the superintendent of public instruction or the superintendent's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   The office of the superintendent of public instruction may receive gifts, grants, or endowments from public or private sources that are made from time to time, in trust or otherwise, for the use and benefit of the purposes of this act and spend gifts, grants, or endowments or income from the public or private sources to support the ratios provided for in section 2 of this act, unless the receipt of the gifts, grants, or endowments violates RCW 42.17.710.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   This act expires December 31, 2008.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   The sum of . . . . . ., or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, from the general fund to the office of the superintendent of public instruction for the purposes of this act.