2011 General Assembly Update - Virginia Association of Secondary ...

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Epilepsy Seizure Management GuidelinesThe 2010 General Assembly also passed legislation to amend § 54.1-3005 directing theBoard of Nursing, with cooperation from the Board of Medicine, to revise guidelines for seizuremanagement, including the list of rescue medications, for students with epilepsy and otherseizure disorders. These guidelines were amended and went into effect on July 1, 2010.(Editor’s Note: While these revised guidelines have been in effect for over a year, the editorhas found numerous situations where teachers and principals were unaware that the guidelineseven existed. According to Department of Education (DOE) staff, the guidelines were sharedwith every school division through communication and meetings with the school division nursecoordinators, who in turn should have shared the information with school nurses. School nursesshould have shared the information with principals and teachers. If principals have not alreadydone so, efforts should be made to ensure that faculty and staff are aware of the guidelinesand are comfortable using established seizure management techniques. Once guidelinesare established, principals and teachers run the risk of being more liable if the guidelines arenot followed. Principals should consider providing a copy of the guidelines to all faculty. Inaddition, with the VHSL change allowing teams to practice year-round, the guidelines should beemphasized with all coaches and volunteers. The guidelines are available online at:http://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/health_medical/seizure_management.pdf).Licensed Nurse PractitionersThe 2011 General Assembly amended § 22.1-271.2 to allow licensed nurse practitioners, inaddition to physicians, registered nurses, or local health department employees, to immunizepublic school students and to provide proof of such immunizations. It also provides that alicensed nurse practitioner may provide written certification that an immunization may bedetrimental to a child’s health for purposes of compliance with health requirements for publicschool students, home-instructed children, and children exempted or excused from schoolattendance. (Editor’s Note: This amendment should not impact school operations, but it isimportant to make sure that appropriate staff are aware of the change).Youth Health Risk SurveyAn amendment to § 22.1-79.3 requires the Department of Health to develop and administera random survey of students in public middle and high schools to facilitate planning andimplementation of effective programs for substance abuse prevention. The survey will providedata to assist in identifying trends in alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use and the assessmentof risk and protective factors among youth. The amendment includes an opt-out provision forparents. The opt-out request must be provided in writing. Local school boards must developpolicies to notify parents of students selected for participation in the survey. (Editor’s Note: Thelegislation should not create major problems, but communication to parents, students, and staffwill be very important if students in your school are randomly selected for the study).Sex Offenders on School PropertyPrevious Virginia law prevented an individual labeled as a violent sex offender from being onschool property during school hours and during school-related and school-sponsored activitiesunless he or she had permission from the local circuit court and permission of the school boardto enter on the property. A 2011 amendment to § 18.2-370.5 expands the prohibition on entryonto school grounds to include any school bus as defined in § 46.2-100 and any property,A PUBLICATION OF THE VIRGINIA ASSOCIATION OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS, INC.Copyright © 2011 by the Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals, Inc. All rights reserved.
public or private, during hours when such property is being used solely by a public or privateelementary or secondary school for a school-related or school-sponsored activity. The penaltyis a Class 6 felony. (Editor’s Note: As the General Assembly continues to focus on schoolsafety issues, this amendment eliminates a loophole apparent in previous legislation. It will beof greatest importance to administrators of schools who hold events off school property, i.e.,football games and proms).Video-Monitoring Systems on School BussesAn amendment to § 46.2-844 authorizes localities to adopt ordinances to allow local schooldivisions to install and operate video-monitoring systems on school buses in order to detectdrivers passing stopped school buses. (Editor’s Note: Note that this legislation allows alocal city council or board of supervisors to pass an ordinance allowing a local school boardpermission to do this. Unless the local governing body passes the ordinance, the school boardmay not act. Even if the governing body passes the ordinance, the school board is not requiredto install or operate such devices. As a point of interest, there is no mention of local governmentin the U.S. Constitution; thus, local governments are created and regulated by the states. Thereare two types of states: Home rule states and Dillon rule states. In home rule states, statelegislatures can restrict localities from engaging in certain practices. Unless restricted, localitiesassume they are autonomous. In Dillon rule states, state legislatures grant autonomy, andlocalities assume they do not have autonomy unless specifically granted. Virginia is a Dillonrule state; thus, the General Assembly must grant authority for certain practices. This legislationis a good example of application of the Dillon rule).Reckless Driving and Failure to Stop for a School BusThe General Assembly amended § 46.2-859 to require all drivers to remain stopped for aschool bus until the bus is put in motion. Failure to do so is reckless driving. (Editor’s Note:Principals might consider sharing this change with students and faculty).ADMINISTRATIVE ISSUESSchool Enrollment of Children Placed in Foster CareSection 22.1-289 was amended in 2005 and § 22.1-3.4 was added to effectively treat fosterchild enrollment the same as homeless enrollment (i.e., student must be immediately enrolled,notice required that student is in good standing in the previous school, in good health, and isfree from communicable or contagious disease). An amendment by the 2011 General Assemblyadded the following language to the law: Before placing a child of school age in a foster careplacement, as defined in § 63.2-100, the local social services agency making such placementshall, in writing, determine jointly with the local school division whether it is in the child’s bestinterests to remain enrolled at the school in which he was enrolled prior to the most recent fostercare placement, pursuant to § 22.1-3.4. (Editor’s Note: The patron of the bill’s intent was toallow a child placed in foster care to remain in his or her original school if such determinationwas in the child’s best interest. The amendment appears to place as much responsibility on thelocal social services agency as it does on the school division in making the school placementdecision. It will be important to have a strong working relationship with social services. In allcases, decisions should be made around what is best for the child).A PUBLICATION OF THE VIRGINIA ASSOCIATION OF SECONDARY SCHOOL PRINCIPALS, INC.Copyright © 2011 by the Virginia Association of Secondary School Principals, Inc. All rights reserved.
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