Relating to school personnel training, emergency care planning, authorizations for assisting, and limitations of liability concerning students with epilepsy or a seizure disorder

This bill relates to school personnel training, emergency care planning, authorizations for assisting, and limitations of liability concerning students with epilepsy or a seizure disorder. The bill creates definitions for “individual health plan”, “school nurse”, “school personnel”, and “seizure action plan”. The bill requires by the start of the school year beginning July 1, 2024, for the board of directors of each school district and the authorities in charge of each accredited nonpublic school to have at least one school employee at each school who has met the training requirements necessary to administer or assist with the self-administration of a seizure rescue medication or medication prescribed to treat seizure disorder symptoms and approved by the United States food and drug administration and a manual dose of prescribed electrical stimulation using a vagus nerve stimulator magnet approved by the United States food and drug administration. The presence of a school nurse employed full-time by a school who assumes responsibility for the administration of seizure medications and the administration oversight of vagus nerve stimulation fulfills such requirements. These requirements do not require school personnel, other than a school nurse, to administer a suppository to a student. The bill requires by December 31, 2025, each public school and each accredited nonpublic school to provide training to all school personnel on how to recognize the signs and symptoms of seizures and the appropriate steps for seizure first aid. The bill requires each public school and each accredited nonpublic school to have school personnel responsible for the supervision or care of students to undergo seizure recognition and first aid training on a biennial basis. The bill requires any training programs or guidelines adopted by a state agency for the training of school personnel in the health care needs of students diagnosed with a seizure disorder to be consistent with training programs and guidelines developed by the epilepsy foundation of America or any successor organization. The bill authorizes schools and the department of education to require additional seizure disorder training. The bill requires, prior to school personnel administering medication prescribed to treat a student’s seizure disorder symptoms, a school, or accredited nonpublic school to obtain signed and dated authorization from the student’s parent or guardian that authorizes a person trained to administer or assist with the self-administration of a medication approved by the United States food and drug administration to treat seizure disorder symptoms and a manual dose of prescribed electrical stimulation using a vagus nerve stimulator magnet approved by the United States food and drug administration in accordance with the school’s policy and procedures. Such authorizations are effective for the school year in which the authorization is granted and must be renewed each school year. The bill requires, upon the request of a student’s parent or guardian, a school to collaborate with the parent or guardian and relevant licensed health care professionals, including the school nurse or education team, in the development of an individual health plan, and a seizure action plan if appropriate, consistent with rules adopted by the state board of education. The individual health plan or seizure action plan must be based on the student’s needs and may include but is not limited to assessment, nursing diagnosis, outcomes, planning, interventions, student goals, and a plan for emergencies to provide direction in managing the student’s health needs. The plan must be updated consistent with timelines for individual health plans and with rules adopted by the state board of education. The bill requires each school to maintain all authorizations to allow seizure assistance, individual health plans, and seizure action plans for enrolled students on file in the office of the school nurse or school administrator. The bill requires each school to distribute information regarding a student’s seizure action plan to any school personnel responsible for the supervision or care of the student. The bill limits the requirements relating to authorizations, individual health plans, and seizure action plans for students to schools that either have an enrolled student with a known diagnosis of epilepsy or seizure disorder or an enrolled student who is known to currently be taking medication prescribed by a health care provider and approved by the United States food and drug administration to treat seizure disorder symptoms. The bill directs the state board of education to adopt rules to establish a seizure education program for the purpose of providing school districts and accredited nonpublic schools an age-appropriate program on seizures and seizure disorders. The seizure education program shall be consistent with guidelines published by the epilepsy foundation of America or any successor organization, and participation in the program shall be optional. The bill makes a school, a school employee, or an agent of a school acting in good faith and in compliance with a student’s individual health plan and seizure action plan immune from liability for any claim for injuries or damages arising from actions taken to assist a student with the student’s needs related to epilepsy or a seizure disorder.