HANDBOOK ON SERVICES TO PUPILS ATTENDING NONPUBLIC SCHOOLS |
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| I. Health Services | |
| Education Law 912 requires each of the school districts in
New York State, except Buffalo, New York City, and Rochester, to provide resident pupils
who attend nonpublic schools with all of the same health and welfare services available to
pupils who attend the public schools of the district. The administrators of nonpublic
schools must request these services which include, but are not limited to, all of the
services performed by a physician, dentist, dental hygienist, nurse, school psychologist,
school social worker and speech correctionist. The services also may include dental
prophylaxis; vision, hearing and scoliosis screening tests; recording health histories;
physical examinations and in-school immunization; maintaining cumulative health records;
and administering emergency care programs for ill or injured pupils. These services must
be provided by the school district in which the nonpublic school is located. In the three cities noted above health services are to be provided by the following agencies and, again, pupils who attend nonpublic schools are entitled to the same health and welfare services as pupils who attend public schools: Buffalo - Erie County Department of Health New York City - Bureau of School Children and Adolescent Health, New York City Department of Health Rochester - School Health Services Division - Monroe County Department of Health In cases where pupils attending a nonpublic school actually live in another public school district, the two public school districts must enter into a written contract governing the services to be provided and the reimbursement for such services. Sections 901-914 of Education Law and Commissioner’s Regulation 136.2(d)(2) specify the minimal school health services, which a board of education must provide for its pupils. (New York City, Buffalo, and Rochester are excepted from these requirements.) These include: (1) physical examinations upon entrance to school, upon entrance to grades 1, 3, 7 and 10 and at any other time deemed necessary by school authorities in the educational interests of the pupil; (2) an annual vision screening test for all pupils in grades K-12; (3) an annual hearing test for all pupils in grades K-7, at grade 10 and at any other time deemed necessary by school authorities in the educational interests of the pupil; (4) an annual scoliosis (spinal) screening test for all pupils 8-16 years of age; (5) the maintenance of cumulative health records; (6) written notification to parents of any health problems found; (7) emergency care of ill or injured pupils; and (8) compliance with and enforcement of mandatory immunization requirements. Section 905 of the Education Law was recently amended to require all schools in New York State to provide vision-screening services to all new admissions within six months of enrollment. The components of distance screening are distance acuity, color perception, and near vision. If a nonpublic school receives its health services from a public school district or from a city or county department of health, as is the case in New York City, Buffalo and Rochester, this service must be included. However, if a nonpublic school does not request health services, the nonpublic school is obligated to perform vision screening on new admissions. When health and welfare services are requested by a nonpublic school, the board of education or city or county department of health is obligated to provide services equivalent to those provided to public school pupils in the district in which the nonpublic school is located. In the Questions and Answers below, references to provision of health services by the public school district include the provision of those services by the appropriate city or county department of health.
Questions and Answers
The school district within whose geographic boundaries the nonpublic school is located must provide such services. In the cities of New York, Buffalo, and Rochester, the agency serving the public schools must provide these services. No. The principal, administrator, teacher, or other person in charge of the nonpublic school must request these services. The law is silent on this point. However, school districts usually plan budgets and staff assignments in the spring for the following school year. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that the nonpublic school principal send a letter of request to the public school superintendent in sufficient time to permit inclusion of such services in the budgetary and work plans. The nonpublic school administrator should confer with the superintendent of the public school district to determine the best time to file such a request. The law does not specify any frequency. However, in general practice the request for such services is a one-time occurrence. It is recommended that such requests be reviewed annually. In so doing, all parties will have an opportunity to discuss the services provided; revise the requests, budgets, and work plans; and renegotiate contracts, if necessary. Services provided to public school pupils must be made available to nonpublic school pupils on an equitable basis. All health and welfare services which are provided to pupils in public schools must be available to pupils in nonpublic schools, i.e., vision, hearing and scoliosis screening tests, physical examinations, dental screening, in-school immunization, and emergency care for ill or injured pupils. Yes. The following specifications must be observed for sectarian nonpublic schools: a. The following services may properly be rendered by school districts to students attending nonpublic schools on nonpublic school premises: the services of a physician, dentist, dental hygienist or nurse; dental prophylaxis; vision and hearing tests; the taking of medical histories; the administration of health screening tests; the maintenance of cumulative health records and the administration of emergency care to ill or injured pupils. b. The services of a school psychologist and a school speech correctionist may be rendered on nonpublic school premises only to the extent that such services are diagnostic in nature. To the extent that the services of a school psychologist or school speech correctionist are therapeutic or remedial in nature, they may be rendered to a student attending a nonpublic school only on a religiously neutral site. In summary, the school district may not provide direct instructional services to sectarian nonpublic schools, e.g., health teaching. Also, it may not provide any services not currently available to public school pupils. Services of an instructional nature are considered therapeutic or remedial; services to assess or evaluate pupils are not considered therapeutic or remedial. Such a site may be, but is not limited to, a public school, a mobile unit, or some other public location. Such transportation must be provided if the distance to the site exceeds ¼ mile. No. The nonpublic school may request only those services it needs or wants for its pupils. Section 912 of the Education Law requires the school district in which the pupil resides to pay for health services provided to pupils residing in one district but attending a nonpublic school in another district. The school district in which the nonpublic school pupil lives and the school district providing the services enter into a written contract. The district providing the services determines the appropriate charge. No. No district is required to provide health and welfare services to pupils who are not residents of New York State. School health services must be provided to both groups of the pupils are New York State residents. However, the school district is not required to provide 24-hour service to the boarding pupils. Again, no district is required to provide health and welfare services to pupils who are not residents of New York State. No. The law is silent on this point. In practice, the nonpublic school provides all of the permanent, nonconsumable facilities and equipment, e.g., room, furniture, files, scale, telephone and utilities; and the school district provides the consumable supplies, e.g., bandaids, tongue blades, thermometers, pupil health records and related forms. Equipment such as audiometers and mechanical vision testers are usually provided by the school district for the duration of the testing period. No. The law specifies that the services performed and provided by the staff must be the same. The nature of staff coverage may vary and should be based on factors related to pupil need, pupil enrollment and time needed to provide the requested services. If the district provides nursing services in public schools, these services are to be made available to a nonpublic school on a basis proportional to the number and needs of pupils in the school. This may mean that a school nurse could spend a few hours a week in a small school or be assigned fulltime to a large school. Equivalence of services is based upon the nature, scope and quality of the health and welfare services provided for the pupils in the school district in which the nonpublic school is located. The determination of equivalency of health and welfare services is made by the superintendent of the district which provides the services. Also, a school district may not provide any services not currently available to public school pupils. Yes. Yes. That depends on the nature of the services requested. Diagnostic and evaluative services may be delivered in sectarian schools, but services which are therapeutic or remedial in nature may be rendered to pupils who attend sectarian nonpublic schools only if they are delivered at a religiously neutral site. Yes. In addition to immunization mandates contained in Public Health Law, Subdivision 4 of Section 905 requires all public and nonpublic schools in New York State to provide vision screening services to all new admissions within six months of enrollment. The required components include distance acuity, near vision and color perception. Yes. A nonpublic school may request only those portions of health services that it needs or wants for its pupils. Therefore, vision screening of new admissions may be the only request of a nonpublic school. Yes. The public school district is responsible for performing the vision screening for new admissions within six months of enrollment. Yes. If the nonpublic school requests this health service, in-school immunization must be provided. Day-to-day maintenance of pupil health records is the responsibility of the health services staff provided by the school district. Storage and disposition of the records are the responsibility of the nonpublic school. While the law does not address this directly, it is recommended that nonpublic schools follow the record retention and disposition schedule prescribed for public schools. The retention listed for two major records is: Cumulative student health record……Until student is 27 years old Information about retention of other records is available from the Office for Nonpublic Schools. (See Section IX) |
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