[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2047 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2047

To authorize the Secretary of Education to make demonstration grants to 
  eligible local educational agencies for the purpose of reducing the 
    student-to-school nurse ratio in public elementary schools and 
                           secondary schools.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 31, 2012

  Mr. Schumer introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the Secretary of Education to make demonstration grants to 
  eligible local educational agencies for the purpose of reducing the 
    student-to-school nurse ratio in public elementary schools and 
                           secondary schools.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Student-to-School Nurse Ratio 
Improvement Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The American Academy of Pediatrics emphasizes the 
        crucial role school nurses have in the seamless provision of 
        comprehensive health services to children and youth, as well as 
        in the development of a coordinated school health program.
            (2) The school nurse functions as a leader and the 
        coordinator of the school health services team, facilitating 
        access to a medical home for each child and supporting school 
        achievement.
            (3) Recent national data indicates 45 percent of public 
        schools have a school nurse all day, every day, while another 
        30 percent of schools have a school nurse who works part time 
        in 1 or more schools.
            (4) The American Nurses Association has reported that when 
        there is no registered nurse on the school premises, the 
        responsibility to administer the necessary medications and 
        treatments and appropriate monitoring of the children falls on 
        the shoulders of administrators, educators, and staff who are 
        ill-prepared to perform these tasks.
            (5) Statistics from the National Center for Education 
        Statistics indicate that of the 52,000,000 children who 
        currently spend their day in schools, 16 percent have chronic 
        physical, emotional, or other health problems.
            (6) A recent study indicated that from 2002 to 2008 the 
        percentage of children in special education classes with health 
        impairments, due to chronic or acute health problems, increased 
        60 percent. Within this group, the rate of autism has doubled 
        since 2002.
            (7) In the past 10 years, the prevalence of asthma has 
        increased 40 percent and the incidence of diabetes has 
        increased nearly 50 percent.
            (8) According to a 2008 report by the American Academy of 
        Pediatrics, students face increased social issues as well as 
        the need for preventative services and interventions for acute 
        and chronic health issues.
            (9) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 
        that, in 2008, 8.9 percent of children were without health 
        insurance, and with more than 1,300,000 homeless children in 
        the United States, schools have become the only source of 
        health care for many children and adolescents.
            (10) Communicable and infectious diseases account for 
        millions of school days lost each year. There is reported 
        evidence that school nurses have a positive impact on 
        immunization rates, resulting in fewer parent-requested 
        exemptions.
            (11) A recent study showed that students with health 
        concerns attended to by school nurses were able to return to 
        class 95 percent of the time, while students attended to by 
        non-licensed staff were only able to return to class 82 percent 
        of the time.
            (12) Using a formula-based approach for determining a 
        balanced student-to-school nurse ratio offers a reasonable 
        means for achieving better student outcomes.

SEC. 3. REDUCING STUDENT-TO-SCHOOL NURSE RATIOS.

    (a) Demonstration Grants.--
            (1) Program authorized.--The Secretary of Education, in 
        consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
        and the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention, may make demonstration grants to eligible local 
        educational agencies for the purpose of reducing the student-
        to-school nurse ratio in public elementary schools and 
        secondary schools.
            (2) Application.--
                    (A) In general.--To receive a grant under this 
                section, an eligible local educational agency shall 
                submit an application to the Secretary of Education at 
                such time, in such manner, and containing such 
                information as the Secretary of Education may require.
                    (B) Current ratios.--The application shall include 
                information with respect to the current ratios of 
                students-to-school nurses in each of the public 
                elementary schools and secondary schools served by the 
                eligible local educational agency.
            (3) Priority.--In awarding grants under this section, the 
        Secretary of Education shall give priority to applications 
        submitted by high-need local educational agencies that 
        demonstrate the greatest need for new or additional nursing 
        services among students in the public elementary schools and 
        secondary schools served by such local educational agency.
            (4) Matching funds.--The Secretary of Education may require 
        local educational agencies receiving grants under this section 
        to provide matching funds from non-Federal sources, and shall 
        permit such local educational agencies to match funds in whole 
        or in part with in-kind contributions.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 24 months after the date on which a 
grant is first made to an eligible local educational agency under this 
section, the Secretary of Education shall submit to Congress a report 
on the results of the demonstration grant program carried out under 
this section, including an evaluation of--
            (1) the effectiveness of the program in reducing the 
        student-to-school nurse ratios described in subsection (a)(1); 
        and
            (2) how any resulting enhancement of student health may 
        impact student learning.
    (c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            (1) In general.--The terms ``elementary school'', ``local 
        educational agency'', ``poverty line'', and ``secondary 
        school'' have the meanings given to those terms in section 9101 
        of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 
        U.S.C. 7801).
            (2) Eligible local educational agency.--The term ``eligible 
        local educational agency'' means a local educational agency in 
        which the student-to-school nurse ratio in each public 
        elementary school and secondary school served by the agency is 
        750 or more students to 1 school nurse.
            (3) High-need local educational agency.--The term ``high-
        need local educational agency'' means a local educational 
        agency--
                    (A) that serves not fewer than 10,000 children from 
                families with incomes below the poverty line; or
                    (B) for which not less than 20 percent of the 
                children served by the agency are from families with 
                incomes below the poverty line.
            (4) Nurse.--The term ``nurse'' means a licensed nurse, as 
        defined under State law.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section 
for each of the fiscal years 2012 through 2016.
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