Bill > A316

Introduced Session

State Board of Education regulations at N.J.A.C.6A:16-2.2(l)1 require that each school district ensure that students in grades kindergarten through 12 are annually screened for height, weight, and blood pressure. This bill establishes standards to be followed by school districts when conducting those screenings. Under the bill, in addition to meeting any other requirements established by the State Board of Education, the height, weight, and blood pressure screening is to: 1) be conducted by the school physician or a school nurse; 2) provide an equal level of assessment to all students; 3) be conducted one class at a time; 4) ensure that each student in the class being screened is physically separated from all other students in the class through the use of a physical barrier to protect the privacy of the student; and 5) ensure that the evaluation of a student's weight or weight classification is not based solely on the calculation of the student's body mass index but also considers other health markers, such as the student's access to healthy food, safe space to exercise, and other barriers to a healthy lifestyle. The bill requires that the regulations promulgated by the State Board of Education to implement the bill's provisions include additional health markers on which a student's weight may be evaluated, such as age, gender, race, and genetic history. The bill also requires that prior to conducting the screening, the school physician or school nurse meet with the class to be screened to discuss, in an age-appropriate manner, the purpose and benefit of the screening, the manner in which the screening will be conducted, and an explanation that the screening is only one method to evaluate healthy growth and development. The purpose of the meeting will be to alleviate student anxiety on the screening and the outcome of the screening.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Andrea Katz (D)*,  Michele Matsikoudis (R)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee (on 01/09/2024)

Official Document