H13 - Amend School Health Assessment Requirement (SL 2015-222)

Overview: S.L. 2015-222 requires each child entering the public schools for the first time to submit proof of a health assessment to the school principal within 30 calendar days of the child's first day of attendance. The health assessment results must be submitted on a statewide standardized health assessment transmittal form developed by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and the form must only include those items specifically listed in the act. Information on the form is not a public record. If the health assessment transmittal form is not presented on or before the child's first day of attendance, the principal will issue a deficiency notice indicating that the form must be submitted within the specified timeframe or the child will not be permitted to attend school. Local board of education policies must state that absences due to failure to submit the health assessment are not suspensions and a student absent due to the lack of a health assessment form must have the opportunity to: take a textbook and school-furnished digital device home; receive missed assignments upon request; and take missed exams. DHHS and DPI must develop a health assessment transmittal form for the 2016-2017 school year and report on or before December 1, 2015, to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services and Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee.

This act became effective August 18, 2015, and applies to children enrolling in the public schools for the first time beginning with the 2016-2017 school year.