Senate File 378 - Introduced SENATE FILE 378 BY QUIRMBACH A BILL FOR An Act relating to seizure disorders and establishing certain 1 requirements for charter schools, school districts, 2 accredited nonpublic schools, and the department of 3 education. 4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 5 TLSB 1561XS (2) 90 dg/jh
S.F. 378 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 280.13D Seizure action plan and 1 training requirements. 2 1. For purposes of this section, unless the context 3 otherwise requires: 4 a. Individual health plan means the confidential, written, 5 preplanned, and ongoing special health service developed for a 6 student who requires such service to be incorporated with the 7 students educational program. 8 b. School personnel means principals, guidance counselors, 9 teachers, and other relevant employees who have direct contact 10 with and supervise children, including school bus drivers and 11 paraeducators. 12 c. Seizure action plan means a written set of instructions 13 designed to direct caregivers and staff to intervene in the 14 event of a seizure occurrence and is considered a plan for 15 emergencies as a part of an individual health plan. 16 2. a. Commencing with the school year beginning July 1, 17 2024, the governing board in charge of each charter school, 18 the board of directors of each school district, and the 19 authorities in charge of each nonpublic school shall have 20 at least one school employee at each school who has met the 21 training requirements necessary to administer or assist with 22 the self-administration of all of the following: 23 (1) A seizure rescue medication or medication prescribed 24 to treat seizure disorder symptoms as approved by the United 25 States food and drug administration. 26 (2) A manual dose of prescribed electrical stimulation 27 using a vagus nerve stimulator magnet as approved by the United 28 States food and drug administration. 29 b. The presence of a registered nurse employed full-time 30 by a charter school, school district, or nonpublic school 31 who assumes responsibility for the administration of seizure 32 medications, and the administration oversight of vagus nerve 33 stimulation, fulfills the requirements of paragraph a . This 34 section shall not be construed to require school personnel, 35 -1- LSB 1561XS (2) 90 dg/jh 1/ 7
S.F. 378 other than a registered nurse, to administer a suppository to 1 a student. 2 3. Every school attendance center shall provide training 3 to all school personnel on the recognition of the signs and 4 symptoms of seizures and the appropriate steps for seizure 5 first aid. 6 4. Any training programs or guidelines adopted by any state 7 agency for the training of school personnel in the health care 8 needs of students diagnosed with a seizure disorder shall 9 be fully consistent with training programs and guidelines 10 developed by the epilepsy foundation of America and any 11 successor organization. 12 5. Each charter school and school district shall require 13 school personnel or volunteers responsible for the supervision 14 or care of students to undergo approved seizure recognition and 15 first aid training on a biennial basis. 16 6. This section shall not be construed to limit the 17 authority of a charter school, a school district, or the 18 department of education to require additional seizure disorder 19 training. 20 7. a. Prior to school personnel administering a seizure 21 rescue medication or medication prescribed to treat a students 22 seizure disorder symptoms, the students parent or guardian 23 shall provide the school with a signed and dated written 24 authorization requesting medication administration at school 25 that meets the requirements of the schools medication 26 administration policy and procedures established in accordance 27 with 281 IAC 14.1. 28 b. The parent or guardian of each student diagnosed with 29 a seizure disorder may collaborate with licensed health care 30 professionals, including the school nurse or education team, 31 in the development of an individual health plan, and a seizure 32 action plan if appropriate, consistent with rules adopted by 33 the state board of education. The individual health plan or 34 seizure action plan, based on the students needs, may include 35 -2- LSB 1561XS (2) 90 dg/jh 2/ 7
S.F. 378 but is not limited to assessment, nursing diagnosis, outcomes, 1 planning, interventions, student goals if applicable, and a 2 plan for emergencies to provide direction in managing the 3 students health needs. The plan shall be updated consistent 4 with timelines for individual health plans and with rules 5 adopted by the state board of education. Personal information 6 in the plan regarding the student shall be kept confidential 7 as required under the federal Family Educational Rights and 8 Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. 1232g. 9 c. Each charter school, school district, and nonpublic 10 school attendance center shall keep the written authorization, 11 individual health plan, and seizure action plan on file in the 12 office of the school nurse or school administrator. 13 8. Each charter school, school district, and nonpublic 14 school attendance center shall distribute information regarding 15 the seizure action plan to any school personnel or volunteers 16 responsible for the supervision or care of the student. 17 9. The authorization for the administration to administer 18 medication provided in accordance with subsection 7, paragraph 19 a , shall be effective for the school year in which the 20 authorization is granted and must be renewed each following 21 school year. 22 10. The requirements of subsections 7, 8, and 9 shall 23 apply only to charter school, school district, and nonpublic 24 school attendance centers that have a student enrolled who 25 has a known epilepsy diagnosis or seizure disorder or has a 26 seizure rescue medication or medication prescribed to treat 27 seizure disorder symptoms approved by the United States food 28 and drug administration prescribed by the students health care 29 provider. 30 11. Every charter school and school district attendance 31 center may provide an age-appropriate seizure education program 32 to all students on seizures and seizure disorders. The seizure 33 education program shall be consistent with guidelines published 34 by the epilepsy foundation of America and any successor 35 -3- LSB 1561XS (2) 90 dg/jh 3/ 7
S.F. 378 organization. The state board of education shall adopt rules 1 pursuant to chapter 17A for implementation of this section. 2 12. A charter school, school district, or nonpublic school; 3 charter school, school district, or nonpublic school employee; 4 or charter school, school district, or nonpublic school agent 5 acting in good faith and in compliance with the students 6 individual health plan and the instructions of the students 7 licensed health care professional, and who provides assistance 8 or services under this section, shall not be liable for any 9 claim for injuries or damages arising from the provision of 10 services provided under this section to students with epilepsy 11 or seizure disorders. 12 13. The department of education shall develop and implement 13 a seizure education program statewide. 14 Sec. 2. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SCHOOL DISTRICT 15 HEALTH-RELATED TRAINING REQUIREMENTS TASK FORCE. 16 1. The department of education, in collaboration with 17 the department of health and human services, shall convene a 18 charter school and school district health-related training 19 requirements task force to review health-related training 20 requirements established in the Code and the administrative 21 code, with which charter schools and school districts must 22 comply. The task force shall review the current requirements 23 to determine whether the current training requirements are 24 appropriate, identify the classifications of school personnel 25 for whom such training is warranted, develop timelines for 26 frequency of such training and training updates for the 27 classifications of school personnel, and propose modification 28 or elimination of requirements that are outdated. The 29 task force shall develop a uniform training framework that 30 charter schools and school districts may follow to provide 31 health-related training in the most efficient and effective 32 manner. 33 2. Voting members of the task force shall include persons 34 deemed appropriate by the department of education, in 35 -4- LSB 1561XS (2) 90 dg/jh 4/ 7
S.F. 378 collaboration with the department of health and human services. 1 3. The department of education and the department of health 2 and human services shall work cooperatively to provide staffing 3 and administrative support to the task force. 4 4. The task force shall submit its uniform training 5 framework, findings, and recommendations to the general 6 assembly by December 30, 2023. 7 EXPLANATION 8 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 9 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 10 This bill requires charter schools, school districts, and 11 accredited nonpublic schools that have a student enrolled 12 who has a known epilepsy diagnosis or seizure disorder or 13 has a seizure rescue medication or medication prescribed to 14 treat seizure disorder symptoms to have an individual health 15 plan, including a seizure action plan if appropriate, requires 16 charter schools, school districts, and accredited nonpublic 17 schools to provide certain training relating to seizures 18 to relevant school employees, requires the state board of 19 education to adopt rules for implementation of new Code section 20 280.13D, and requires the department of education to develop 21 and implement a seizure education program statewide. 22 The bill requires charter schools, school districts, and 23 accredited nonpublic schools to have at least one school 24 employee at each school who has met the training requirements 25 for administering medications and vagus nerve stimulation. 26 The presence of a full-time registered nurse who assumes 27 responsibility for the administration of seizure medications 28 and vagus nerve stimulation meets this requirement. However, 29 school personnel, other than a registered nurse, are not 30 required to administer a suppository to a student. 31 The bill includes definitions and requirements relating to 32 the development of individual health plans and seizure action 33 plans. 34 Every school attendance center shall provide training to 35 -5- LSB 1561XS (2) 90 dg/jh 5/ 7
S.F. 378 school personnel or volunteers responsible for the supervision 1 or care of students. The training must be fully consistent 2 with programs and guidelines developed by the epilepsy 3 foundation of America. 4 Further, each charter school and school district must 5 require all school personnel to undergo approved seizure 6 recognition and first aid training on a biennial basis. The 7 new Code section shall not be construed to limit the authority 8 of a charter school, school district, or the department to 9 require additional seizure disorder training. 10 Prior to administering medication prescribed to treat a 11 students seizure disorder symptoms, the students parent or 12 guardian must provide the school with a written authorization 13 to administer the medication at school. 14 The parent or guardian of a student diagnosed with a 15 seizure disorder may collaborate with licensed health care 16 professionals, including the school nurse or education team, 17 in the development of an individual health plan, and a seizure 18 action plan if appropriate, consistent with the state boards 19 rules. The individual health plan or seizure plan, based 20 on the students needs, may include assessment, nursing 21 diagnosis, outcomes, planning, interventions, student goals, if 22 applicable, and a plan for emergencies to provide direction in 23 managing the students health needs. The plan must be updated 24 consistent with individual health plan timelines and state 25 board of education rules. 26 Each school shall keep the parents written authorization 27 requesting medication administration at school, the individual 28 health plan, and the seizure action plan on file in the office 29 of the school nurse or school administrator, and distribute 30 information regarding the seizure action to any school 31 personnel or volunteers responsible for the student. The 32 health plan information is confidential under federal law. 33 Provisions relating to the administration of medication 34 prescribed to treat a specific students seizure disorder 35 -6- LSB 1561XS (2) 90 dg/jh 6/ 7
S.F. 378 symptoms, and to distribution of information about a specific 1 students seizure action plan to persons responsible for the 2 supervision or care of the student apply only to schools that 3 have a student enrolled who has a known epilepsy diagnosis 4 or seizure disorder or has a seizure rescue medication or 5 medication prescribed to treat seizure disorder symptoms. 6 Every charter school and school district may provide an 7 age-appropriate seizure education program to all students on 8 seizures and seizure disorders. 9 A charter school, school district, or nonpublic school; 10 charter school employee, school district employee, or nonpublic 11 school employee; or agent who acts in good faith to provide 12 assistance or services in compliance with the students 13 individual health plan and the instructions of the students 14 licensed health care professional shall not be liable for any 15 claim for injuries or damages arising from the provision of 16 such services to students with epilepsy or seizure disorders. 17 The bill directs the department of education, in 18 collaboration with the department of health and human services, 19 to convene a charter school and school district health-related 20 training requirements task force to review health-related 21 training requirements established in the Code and the Iowa 22 administrative code, with which charter schools and school 23 districts must comply. 24 Voting members of the task force shall include persons 25 deemed appropriate by the department of education, in 26 collaboration with the department of health and human services. 27 The departments shall work cooperatively to provide staffing 28 and administrative support to the task force. 29 The task force shall submit its uniform training framework, 30 findings, and recommendations to the general assembly by 31 December 30, 2023. 32 -7- LSB 1561XS (2) 90 dg/jh 7/ 7