1.This Act may be cited as
the Student-to-School Nurse Ratio
Improvement Act of 2012
.
2.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.
3.Reducing
Student-to-School Nurse Ratios
(a)
(1)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)
(A)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)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)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)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)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)For
purposes of this section:
(1)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 agencyThe 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 agencyThe 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)The
term nurse means a licensed nurse, as defined under State
law.
(d)Authorization
of AppropriationsThere 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.