05 LC 19
6474
Senate
Bill 131
By:
Senator Butler of the 55th
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Part 3 of Article 16 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of
Georgia Annotated, relating to student health, so as to enact the
"Georgia´s Children´s Vision Improvement and Learning Readiness Act of
2005"; to provide for legislative findings; to provide for the State Board of
Education to apply for federal funds to develop a state program to provide
comprehensive eye examinations for children entering first grade; to require
comprehensive eye examinations for all children entering first grade; to provide
for a definition of comprehensive eye examination; to provide for the
development of program eligibility criteria, a list of providers, a system of
provider reimbursement, and a method for evaluation and reporting; to develop
and disseminate educational materials about the need for and benefits of
comprehensive eye examinations for children; to provide for related matters; to
provide for an effective date contingent upon specific appropriations; to repeal
conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
This
Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Georgia´s Children´s
Vision Improvement and Learning Readiness Act of 2005."
SECTION
2.
Part
3 of Article 16 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to student health, is amended by striking Code Section
20-2-770, relating to rules and regulations for nutritional screening and eye,
ear, and dental examinations of students, and inserting in its place the
following:
"20-2-770.
The
Department of Human Resources is authorized and directed, in cooperation with
the State Board of Education, to promulgate rules and regulations to provide for
a nutritional screening and
eye,
ear,
and dental examinations for each student entering the first grade in the public
schools of this state and at such other times as such rules and regulations
shall provide. Such rules and regulations shall provide procedures for local
boards of health to provide for such examinations and screenings and for the
issuance of a certificate to the parent or parents of children entering the
first grade indicating that such examinations and screenings have been made, and
such certificates shall be turned in to the school officials at the time of
enrollment. Such rules and regulations shall further provide that the
examinations and screenings required in this Code section may be made by private
practitioners and authorize the certification provided for in this Code section
by such private
practitioners."
SECTION
3.
Said
part is further amended by adding a new Code Section 20-2-770.1 to read as
follows:
"20-2-770.1.
(a)
The General Assembly finds, determines, and declares:
(1)
Eighty percent of what children learn is acquired through the visual processing
of information;
(2)
Visual impairment is one of the ten most common causes of disability in America.
In children, visual impairment is associated with developmental delays and the
need for special education, vocational, and social services. At least 20 percent
of children with learning disabilities have been found to have prominent visual
information processing problems;
(3)
It is estimated that more than ten million children from birth to age ten suffer
from vision problems, with one in 20 preschoolers and one in four school age
children affected; and
(4)
It is estimated that only 14 percent of children under the age of six receive a
comprehensive eye examination and only one-third of all children have had an eye
examination or vision screening prior to entering school.
(b)
In the event that federal grants shall become available to fund the development
of a state program to provide comprehensive eye examinations for children
entering first grade, the State Board of Education shall apply for such grants
and shall be authorized and directed to promulgate rules and regulations
requiring comprehensive eye examinations for all children entering the first
grade in the public schools of this state. Such rules and regulations shall
provide for the issuance of a certificate to the parent or guardian of a child
entering first grade indicating that a comprehensive eye examination has been
conducted. Such certificate shall be turned in to the school officials at the
time of enrollment.
(c)
For purposes of this Code section, the term 'comprehensive eye examination'
includes an assessment of a patient´s history, a general medical
observation, an external and ophthalmoscopic examination, and an assessment of
gross visual field, visual acuity, ocular alignment and motility, refraction,
and binocular vision and accommodation conducted by an optometrist or an
ophthalmologist.
(d)
To the extent federal funds become available, the State Board of Education, in
conjunction with the Department of Community Health, shall develop criteria for
determining eligibility for participation in the comprehensive eye examination
program, a list of providers, a system for provider reimbursement, and a method
for evaluation and reporting of the operations and activities carried out under
the program.
(e)
The State Board of Education shall develop and disseminate to parents, teachers,
and the public educational materials regarding the need for and benefits of
comprehensive eye examinations for children. The Department of Human Resources
shall assist the State Board of Education in the development of such
materials."
SECTION
4.
This
Act shall become effective only if funds are specifically appropriated for the
purposes of this Act in an appropriations Act making specific reference to this
Act and shall become effective when funds so appropriated become available for
expenditure.
SECTION
5.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.