Bill Text: NJ S2528 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires boards of education to annually conduct comprehensive eye examinations for second grade students.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-10-23 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee [S2528 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-S2528-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator BRIAN P. STACK
District 33 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Requires boards of education to annually conduct comprehensive eye examinations for second grade students.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning eye examinations for public school students, supplementing chapter 40 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, and repealing P.L.2007, c.122.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section, "comprehensive eye examination" means an evaluation that includes a child's history, external and ophthalmoscopic examination, visual acuity, ocular alignment and motility, refraction, and assessment of accommodation and binocular vision, performed by an optometrist or ophthalmologist.
b. A board of education shall annually conduct a comprehensive eye examination on every student enrolled in the second grade in accordance with standards jointly established by the Commissioner of Education and the Commissioner of the Department of Health. If the comprehensive eye examination detects a vision-related problem, the board of education shall notify the student's parent or guardian. The notification shall include an explanation of the vision-related problem and the importance of obtaining appropriate treatment.
c. The commissioner shall collaborate with each school district on the procedures to be implemented to conduct the comprehensive eye examinations, including the coverage of any costs associated with the examinations. In any agreement concerning the cost of providing examinations, no parent or guardian of a student shall be required to make any payment to the optometrist or ophthalmologist providing a comprehensive eye examination, or the school district or any other entity; except that if the student is covered by a health insurance plan which has a copayment requirement, the parent or guardian shall pay the health care provider the required copayment.
2. Sections 1 through 7 of P.L.2007, c.122 (C.18A:40-35 through C.18A:40-40) are repealed.
3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the 2014-2015 school year.
STATEMENT
This bill requires that boards of education annually conduct a comprehensive eye examination on every student enrolled in the second grade. Comprehensive eye examination is defined as an evaluation that includes a child's history, external and ophthalmoscopic examination, visual acuity, ocular alignment and motility, refraction, and assessment of accommodation and binocular vision, performed by an optometrist or ophthalmologist. If the examination detects a vision-related problem, the district is to notify the student's parent or guardian.
The bill also repeals P.L.2007, c.122 (C.18A:40-35 through C.18A:40-40) which established a three-year comprehensive eye examination pilot program for second grade students.
