Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 9, September 1, 2024
(1)
Definitions:
(a) "Education provider" means:
(A) Oregon prekindergarten as defined in OAR
581-019-0005 to 0035; and
(B)
School district board as defined in ORS
332.002.
(b) "Eye examination" means an eye exam that:
(A) Is conducted by a person licensed by the
Oregon Board of Optometry under ORS
683.010 to
683.340 a person licensed by the
Oregon Medical Board under ORS 677 and trained in eye surgery and eye disease;
and
(B) Involves any diagnosis of
the eye and any measurement or assistance of the powers or range of vision of
the eye.
(c) "Health care
practitioner," for the purposes of this rule, means a Physician (MD),
Physician's Assistant (PA), Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) licensed by the
Oregon Medical Board, a Nurse Practitioner licensed by the Oregon State Board
of Nursing, or a Naturopathic Physician licensed by the Board of Naturopathic
Medicine.
(d) "Vision screening"
means an eye screening test to identify potential vision health that is
conducted by:
(A) A person licensed by the
Oregon Board of Optometry under ORS
683.010 to
683.340;
(B) A person licensed by the Oregon Medical
Board under ORS 677 and trained in eye surgery and eye disease;
(C) A health care practitioner as defined in
section (1)(c) of this rule;
(D) A
school nurse, a licensed Registered Nurse or Nurse Practitioner working for a
school district to provide school health services, or an employee of an
education provider who has successfully completed training on vision screening
that is provided by a school nurse or, a licensed Registered Nurse or Nurse
Practitioner working for a school district to provide school health services;
or
(E) An organization that has
been approved to provide vision screenings by the Department as provided in
subsection (6) of this rule.
(e) "Vision Health Record," for the purposes
of this rule, has the same meaning as "Education Records" in OAR
581-021-0220(6).
(2) Each
education provider must:
(a) Require a student
who is age seven or younger and entering an educational program for the first
time to submit certification within 120 days of the student beginning school,
that the student received:
(A) A vision
screening or an eye examination; and
(B) Any further eye examinations or necessary
treatments or assistance of the powers or range of vision of the eye.
(b) If a child enters an
educational program without certification of vision screening, provide the
parent with informational resources about:
(A)
Student vision screenings and eye examinations; and
(B) Any further examinations or necessary eye
or vision treatments.
(c)
File in the student's vision health record any certifications or results of
vision screening or eye examination;
(d) Ensure that the requirements of this rule
are met.
(3) A student is
not required to submit certification required in subsection (2) of this rule if
the student provides a statement from the parent of the child that:
(a) The student submitted certification to a
prior education provider; or
(b)
The student's or parent's religious beliefs are contrary to vision screening or
eye examination.
(4)
Failure by a student or parent to meet the requirements of this rule may not
result in prohibiting the student from attending school, but may result in
withholding report cards or similar actions.
(5) Certification of a vision screening or
eye exam is documented using any written communication method selected by the
screening entity to report results of the screening and/or eye exam to parents.
The communication must include the:
(a)
Child's name;
(b) Vision screening
and/or eye examination date;
(c)
Results of the screening and/or eye exam; and
(d) Name of the entity conducting the
screening and/or eye exam.
(6) The Oregon Department of Education shall
annually develop a list of organizations that are approved to perform vision
screenings.
(a) The Department will post a
Request for Information no later than March 31 of each year. The Request for
Information will remain posted through June 30 of that calendar year. The
Department will review and approve applications on a rolling basis, beginning
as early as January 1 of each year and concluding July 31 of that calendar
year.
(b) The Department will
convene an advisory group to review applications and make recommendations to
the Department. The advisory group will include:
(A) Representatives from the field of
optometry and ophthalmology who have expertise in vision screening and
experience in pediatric vision care;
(B) Representatives from the field of school
health;
(C) Representatives from
organizations that provide pediatric vision screening including at least one
representative from a culturally specific organization.
(c) To be included on the list of approved
organizations,
(A) The organization must
instruct all volunteers on how to perform vision screening using an established
program which is evidence-based and uses medically accepted standards for
screening by non-medically licensed persons, including volunteers;
(B) The organization must demonstrate
compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA);
and
(C) The organization must use a
vision screening method or tool that is designed to detect Hyperopia,
Astigmatism, Anisometropia, Myopia, Strabismus, and Amblyopia.
(d) Once an organization has been
approved by the Department, the organization may remain on the list for a
period of three years.
(7) For each biennium that the Legislature
appropriates money to the Department for the purpose of reimbursing education
providers or an organization that has been approved to provide vision
screenings by the Department as provided in subsection (6) of this rule for
vision screening, the Department will administer reimbursements to education
providers or an organization that has been approved to provide vision
screenings by the Department as provided in subsection (6) of this rule. The
Department shall administer the reimbursements as follows:
(a) Each biennium the Department will
determine the amount of money available for reimbursement in a given year by
dividing the total funds available for that biennium in half.
(b) Reimbursements will be made for vision
screenings as defined in this rule.
(c) In the event that claims for
reimbursement exceed the amount for available for a given year, the Department
will prioritize claims for reimbursement as follows:
(A) Claims for reimbursement for
pre-kindergarten programs and grades kindergarten through grade 3 shall be paid
in full first. If the approved claims submitted for prekindergarten and grades
K-3 exceed the amount available in a given year, the reimbursement shall be
divided equally among the approved claims.
(B) Claims for reimbursement for students in
grades 4-12 shall be paid from any remaining funds. Priority will be given to
claims submitted by schools that serve the highest percentage of students
experiencing poverty.
Statutory/Other Authority: ORS
336.211
Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS
336.211