PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following proposed rule:
Proposed Action:
Amendment of section 136.3(e) of Title 8 NYCRR.
Statutory authority:
Education Law, sections 207(not subdivided), 305(1), (2), 905(1) and (4)
Subject:
School health services.
Purpose:
To repeal requirement that school district provide hyperopia vision screenings to all newly entering students.
Text of proposed rule:
Subparagraph (ii) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (e) of section 136.3 of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education is amended, effective October 5, 2011, as follows:
(ii) vision screening to all students who enroll in a school of this state including at a minimum color perception, distance acuity, near vision [and hyperopia] within six months of admission to the school; in addition, all students shall be screened for distance acuity in grades Kindergarten, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10 and at any other time deemed necessary; the results of all such vision screening examinations shall be in writing and shall be provided to the pupil's parent or person in parental relation and to any teacher of the pupil within the school while the pupil is enrolled in the school, and shall be kept in a permanent file of the school for at least as long as the minimum retention period for such records, as prescribed by the commissioner pursuant to article 57-A of the Arts and Cultural Affairs Law;
Text of proposed rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:
Chris Moore, State Education Department, Office of Counsel, State Education Building Room 148, 89 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12234, (518) 473-8296, email: legal@mail.nysed.gov
Data, views or arguments may be submitted to:
John B. King, Jr., Acting Deputy Comm. for P-12 Education, State Education Department, Office of P-12 Education, State Education Building, Room 125, 89 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12234, (518) 474-3862, email: NYSEDP12@mail.nysed.gov
Public comment will be received until:
45 days after publication of this notice.
Regulatory Impact Statement
1. STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
Education Law section 207 empowers the Regents and Commissioner of Education to adopt rules and regulations to carry out State education laws and functions and duties conferred on the Education Department by law.
Education Law section 305(1) and (2) provide the Commissioner, as chief executive officer of the State education system, with general supervision over schools and institutions subject to the provisions of education law, and responsibility for executing Regents policies. Section 305(20) authorizes the Commissioner with such powers and duties as are charged by the Regents.
Education Law section 905 establishes the vision screening requirements for students in NYS public schools.
2. LEGISLATIVE OBJECTIVES:
The proposed amendment is consistent with the above statutory authority of the Board of Regents to establish vision screening requirements for students in the public schools.
3. NEEDS AND BENEFITS:
The proposed amendment will provide mandate relief to school districts by repealing the requirement that school districts provide vision screening for hyperopia to all new entrants. Hyperopia (farsightedness) screening is not required by Education Law section 905, but was inadvertently included in a previous amendment to section 136.3 in 2005 (EDU-28-05-00008-A; NYS Register/September 28, 2005). Section 136.3(e) presently requires new entrants to be screened for vision abnormalities in; color perception, near vision, distance acuity, and hyperopia. Subsequent visions screenings are required for distance acuity only in grades K, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10. Eliminating the hyperopia screening requirement is appropriate because it goes beyond what is required by law and the remaining requirements in section 136.3(e) are sufficient to ensure adequate visual screening of students.
4. COSTS:
a. Costs to State government: None.
b. Costs to local governments: None.
c. Costs to regulated parties: None.
d. Costs to the State Education Department of implementation and continuing compliance: None.
The proposed amendment will reduce costs to school districts and provide mandate relief by repealing a requirement that school districts provide vision screening for hyperopia to all newly entering students.
5. LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANDATES:
The proposed amendment does not impose any additional program, service, duty or responsibility upon local governments. The proposed amendment provides mandate relief by repealing a requirement that school districts provide vision screening for hyperopia to all newly entering students.
6. PAPERWORK:
The proposed amendment does not impose any additional reporting or other paperwork requirements on school districts. The proposed amendment will reduce paperwork requirements to school districts in that it will provide them with mandate relief by repealing the hyperopia vision screening requirement to screen for new entrants.
7. DUPLICATION:
The proposed amendment does not duplicate, overlap or conflict with any other State or federal statute or regulation.
8. ALTERNATIVES:
There are no significant alternatives and none were considered. The proposed amendment is intended to provide mandate relief to school districts by repealing a hyperopia vision screening provision that is unnecessary in that it is not required by Education Law section 905, and the remaining vision screening requirements in the regulation are sufficient to provide adequate screening of public school students.
9. FEDERAL STANDARDS:
The proposed amendment does not exceed any minimum federal standards.
10. COMPLIANCE SCHEDULE:
It is anticipated that regulated parties will be able to achieve compliance with the proposed amendment by its effective date.
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis
Small Businesses:
The proposed repeal relates to vision screening requirements for students in the public schools, and does not impose any adverse economic impact, reporting, recordkeeping or any other compliance requirements on small businesses. Because it is evident from the nature of the proposed amendment that it does not affect small businesses, no affirmative steps are needed to ascertain that fact and none were taken. Accordingly, a regulatory flexibility analysis for small businesses is not required and one has not been prepared.
Local Governments:
1. EFFECT OF RULE:
The proposed repeal applies to each school district in the State.
2. COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS:
The proposed repeal does not impose any additional compliance requirements on school districts, and will provide mandate relief to school districts by repealing a requirement that school districts provide vision screening for hyperopia to all newly entering students.
3. PROFESSIONAL SERVICES:
The proposed amendment does not impose any additional professional service requirements on school districts. The proposed amendment will provide mandate relief by repealing a requirement that school districts provide visual screening for hyperopia to all new entrants.
4. COMPLIANCE COSTS:
The proposed amendment does not impose any additional costs to school districts. The proposed amendment will provide mandate relief by repealing a requirement that school districts provide visual screening for hyperopia to all new entrants.
5. ECONOMIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL FEASIBILITY:
The proposed amendment does not impose any new technological requirements. Economic feasibility is addressed above under compliance costs.
6. MINIMIZING ADVERSE IMPACT:
The proposed amendment will reduce compliance requirements and costs for school districts in that it will provide them with mandate relief by repealing a requirement that school districts provide vision screening for hyperopia to all newly entering students.
7. LOCAL GOVERNMENT PARTICIPATION:
Copies of the proposed amendment have been provided to District Superintendents with the request that they distribute them to school districts within their supervisory districts for review and comment.
Rural Area Flexibility Analysis
1. TYPES AND ESTIMATED NUMBERS OF RURAL AREAS:
The proposed amendment will apply to all public school districts, including those located in the 44 rural counties with less than 200,000 inhabitants and the 71 towns in urban counties with population density of 150 per square miles or less.
2. REPORTING, RECORDKEEPING AND OTHER COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS AND PROFESSIONAL SERVICES:
The proposed amendment does not impose any additional compliance requirements on rural areas. The proposed amendment will provide mandate relief to school districts in rural areas by repealing a requirement to provide vision screening for hyperopia to all newly entering students. The amendments do not impose any additional professional service requirements on rural areas.
3. COSTS:
The proposed amendment does not impose any additional costs to school districts. The proposed amendment will provide mandate relief by repealing a requirement that school districts provide visual screening for hyperopia to all new entrants.
4. MINIMIZING ADVERSE IMPACT:
The proposed amendment does not impose any additional compliance requirements or costs on rural areas. The proposed amendment will reduce compliance requirements and costs for school districts in that it will provide them with mandate relief by repealing a requirement that school districts provide vision screening for hyperopia to all newly entering students.
5. RURAL AREA PARTICIPATION:
Copies of the proposed amendment were provided to the Department's Rural Education Advisory Committee, which includes representatives of school districts in rural areas.
Job Impact Statement
The proposed amendment relates to vision screening requirements for students in the public schools, and will not have a substantial impact on jobs and employment opportunities. Because it is evident from the nature of the amendment that it will not affect job and employment opportunities, no affirmative steps were needed to ascertain that fact and none were taken. Accordingly, a job impact statement is not required, and one has not been prepared.
