3313.674 [Effective 9/17/2010] Body mass index and weight screening.
3313.674 [Effective 9/17/2010] Body mass index and weight screening.
(A) Except as provided in divisions (D) and (H) of this section, the board of education of each city, exempted village, or local school district and the governing authority of each chartered nonpublic school shall require each student enrolled in kindergarten, third grade, fifth grade, and ninth grade to undergo a screening for body mass index and weight status category prior to the first day of May of the school year.
(B) The board or governing authority may provide any screenings required by this section itself, contract with another entity for provision of the screenings, or request the parent or guardian of each student subject to this section to obtain the screening from a provider selected by the parent or guardian and to submit the results to the board or governing authority. If the board or governing authority provides the screenings itself or contracts with another entity for provision of the screenings, the board or governing authority shall protect student privacy by ensuring that each student is screened alone and not in the presence of other students or staff.
(C) Prior to the first day of February of each school year, the board or governing authority shall provide the parent or guardian of each student subject to this section with information about the screening program. If the board or governing authority requests parents and guardians to obtain a screening from a provider of their choosing, the board or governing authority shall provide them with a list of providers and information about screening services available in the community to parents and guardians who cannot afford a private provider.
(D) If the parent or guardian of a student subject to this section signs and submits to the board or governing authority a written statement indicating that the parent or guardian does not wish to have the student undergo the screening, the board or governing authority shall not require the student to be screened.
(E) The board or governing authority shall notify the parent or guardian of each student screened under this section of any health risks associated with the student’s results and shall provide the parent or guardian with information about appropriately addressing the risks. For this purpose, the department of health, in consultation with the department of education and the healthy choices for healthy children council established under section 3301.92 of the Revised Code, shall develop a list of documents, pamphlets, or other resources that may be distributed to parents and guardians under this division.
(F) The board or governing authority shall maintain the confidentiality of each student’s individual screening results at all times. No board or governing authority shall report a student’s individual screening results to any person other than the student’s parent or guardian.
(G) In a manner prescribed by rule of the director of health, the board or governing authority shall report aggregated body mass index and weight status category data collected under this section, and any other demographic data required by the director, to the department of health. In the case of a school district, data shall be aggregated for the district as a whole and not for individual schools within the district, unless the district operates only one school. In the case of a chartered nonpublic school, data shall be aggregated for the school as a whole. The department annually may publish the data reported under this division, aggregated by county. If any district or chartered nonpublic school was granted a waiver under division (H) of this section for a school year for which data is published, the department shall note that the data for the county in which the district or school is located is incomplete. The department may share data reported under this division with other governmental entities for the purpose of monitoring population health, making reports, or public health promotional activities.
(H) A board or governing authority may obtain a waiver of the requirement to have students undergo screenings for body mass index and weight status category by submitting to the superintendent of public instruction an affidavit, attested to by the president or presiding officer of the board or governing authority, stating that the board or governing authority is unable to comply with the requirement. The superintendent shall grant the waiver upon receipt of the affidavit.
Added by 128th General Assembly File No. 49, SB 210, § 1, eff. 9/17/2010.