Bill > H430

This bill establishes a 23-member Commission on School Nursing to evaluate student health in schools across Massachusetts, which are defined as any public or private school from pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade. The commission will be composed of legislative appointees, designees from the Massachusetts Departments of Mental Health, Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and Public Health, as well as representatives from the Massachusetts School Nurse Organization, the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Massachusetts Municipal Association, the Massachusetts Nurses’ Association, and a school parent organization. The commission's primary responsibilities include recommending standards for the number of school nurses needed in schools, assessing current staffing levels, reporting on problems arising from insufficient nursing staff, and evaluating the impact of school-based health centers, which are satellite clinics offering primary care to students. Furthermore, the commission is tasked with proposing ways to improve student health and identifying potential funding sources beyond municipal school budgets, ultimately submitting a report with its recommendations to the legislature by December 1, 2016.