By: Deuell S.B. No. 504

(In the Senate - Filed February 12, 2013; February 20, 2013, read first time and referred to Committee on Health and Human Services; March 18, 2013, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 1, 1 present not voting; March 18, 2013, sent to printer.)

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 504 By: Deuell

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the requirement that certain schoolchildren be screened for abnormal spinal curvature.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subsections (b) and (c), Section 37.001, Health and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:

(b) The board, in cooperation with the Texas Education Agency, shall adopt rules requiring each public or private school to choose either to participate in the [for the mandatory] spinal screening program for [of] children in grades 6 and 9 attending the public or private school or to provide information developed by the department on abnormal spinal curvature to the parents, managing conservators, or guardians of children in grades 6 through 9 attending the public or private school [schools]. The department shall coordinate the spinal screening program with any other screening program conducted by the department on those children.

(c) The board shall adopt substantive and procedural rules necessary to administer screening activities and for the development and provision of information on abnormal spinal curvature.

SECTION 2. Section 37.002, Health and Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 37.002. [COMPLIANCE WITH] SCREENING REQUIREMENTS. (a) If a public or private school requires an [Each] individual [required by board rule] to be screened, the individual shall undergo approved screening for abnormal spinal curvature. The individual's parent, managing conservator, or guardian may substitute professional examinations for the screening.

(b) An individual is exempt from screening if screening conflicts with the tenets and practices of a recognized church or religious denomination of which the individual is an adherent or a member. To qualify for the exemption, the individual's parent, managing conservator, or guardian must submit to the chief administrator on or before the day of the screening procedure an affidavit stating the objections to screening. The chief administrator must make the information on abnormal spinal curvature developed under Section 37.001 available to the exempted individual's parent, managing conservator, or guardian.

(c) If screening is required, the [The] chief administrator of each school shall ensure that each individual admitted to the school complies with the screening requirements set by the board or submits an affidavit of exemption.

SECTION 3. Not later than March 1, 2014, the Department of State Health Services shall develop the information required by Subsection (b), Section 37.001, Health and Safety Code, as amended by this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act applies beginning with the 2014-2015 school year.

SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2013.

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