BILL NUMBER: AB 1433 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 413
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 22, 2006
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 22, 2006
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 29, 2006
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 28, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 23, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 10, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 26, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 5, 2006
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 25, 2005
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 23, 2005
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 27, 2005
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 5, 2005
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Emmerson and Laird
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Daucher, Jerome Horton, Nakanishi,
Richman, Ridley-Thomas, Saldana, and Wolk)
(Coauthors: Senators Aanestad, Alquist, Ducheny, and Figueroa)
FEBRUARY 22, 2005
An act to add Section 49452.8 to the Education Code, relating to
pupil health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1433, Emmerson Pupil health: oral health assessment.
Existing law requires the governing board of any school district
to make rules for the physical examination of pupils that will ensure
proper care of the pupils and proper secrecy with regard to any
defect noted. Existing law allows the parent or legal guardian having
control or charge of any child enrolled in a public school to file
annually a statement in writing, signed by the parent or legal
guardian, that he or she will not consent to an examination of his or
her child. Existing law exempts a child from physical examinations
once such a statement is filed with the principal.
This bill would require a pupil, while enrolled in kindergarten in
a public school, or while enrolled in first grade in a public school
if the pupil was not previously enrolled in kindergarten in a public
school, to present proof, no later than May 31 of the school year,
of having received an oral health assessment by a licensed dentist or
other licensed or registered dental health professional operating
within his or her scope of practice that was performed no earlier
than 12 months prior to the date of the initial enrollment of the
pupil. The bill would excuse a parent or legal guardian from
complying with the above requirement by indicating on a specified
form that the oral health assessment could not be completed because
of one or more specified reasons. The bill would require public
schools to send a notification of the assessment requirement to the
parent or legal guardian of the pupil subject to that requirement,
including a standardized form that can be used for an assessment or
on which the parent or legal guardian can indicate one of several
specified reasons why an assessment cannot be completed. The bill
would require all public schools, after receiving completed
assessments, and by December 31 of each year, to send a report, as
specified, to the local health officer of the county office of
education in which the school is located. The bill would not preclude
a school district or county office of education from developing a
schoolsite-based oral health assessment to comply with these
provisions. The bill would require the Office of Oral Health of the
Chronic Disease Control Branch of the State Department of Health
Services to conduct an evaluation of the requirements imposed by the
bill and prepare and submit a report to the Legislature by January 1,
2010, that discusses any improvements in the oral health of children
resulting from the imposition of those requirements. The bill would
authorize the Office of Oral Health to receive private funds and
contract with the University of California to fulfill those duties.
By requiring public schools to perform additional duties, this
bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
The bill would require that funds from a specified item of the
Budget Act of 2006 be used to offset any reimbursement to local
educational agencies provided pursuant to those provisions regarding
costs mandated by the state pursuant to the bill.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Oral health is integral to overall health.
(b) Tooth decay is the most common chronic childhood disease,
experienced by more than two-thirds of California's children and five
times more common than asthma.
(c) California's schoolchildren, ages 6 to 8, inclusive,
experience oral disease at twice the rate of schoolchildren in other
states.
(d) Oral diseases are infectious, are not self-limiting,
contribute to many lost school hours, negatively impact learning,
interfere with eating, contribute to poor self-esteem, and can cause
considerable pain.
(e) Tooth decay is preventable.
SEC. 2. Section 49452.8 is added to the Education Code, to read:
49452.8. (a) A pupil, while enrolled in kindergarten in a public
school, or while enrolled in first grade in a public school if the
pupil was not previously enrolled in kindergarten in a public school,
shall, no later than May 31 of the school year, present proof of
having received an oral health assessment by a licensed dentist, or
other licensed or registered dental health professional operating
within his or her scope of practice, that was performed no earlier
than 12 months prior to the date of the initial enrollment of the
pupil.
(b) The parent or legal guardian of a pupil may be excused from
complying with subdivision (a) by indicating on the form described in
subdivision (d) that the oral health assessment could not be
completed because of one or more of the reasons provided in
subparagraphs (A) to (C), inclusive, of paragraph (2) of subdivision
(d).
(c) A public school shall notify the parent or legal guardian of a
pupil described in subdivision (a) concerning the assessment
requirement. The notification shall, at a minimum, consist of a
letter that includes all of the following:
(1) An explanation of the administrative requirements of this
section.
(2) Information on the importance of primary teeth.
(3) Information on the importance of oral health to overall health
and to learning.
(4) A toll-free telephone number to request an application for
Healthy Families, Medi-Cal, or other government-subsidized health
insurance programs.
(5) Contact information for county public health departments.
(6) A statement of privacy applicable under state and federal laws
and regulations.
(d) In order to ensure uniform data collection, the department, in
consultation with interested persons, shall develop and make
available on the Internet Web site of the department, a standardized
notification form as specified in subdivision (c) that shall be used
by each school district. The standardized form shall include all of
the following:
(1) A section that can be used by the licensed dentist or other
licensed or registered dental health professional performing the
assessment to record information that is consistent with the
information collected on the oral health assessment form developed by
the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors.
(2) A section in which the parent or legal guardian of a pupil can
indicate the reason why an assessment could not be completed by
marking the box next to the appropriate reason. The reasons for not
completing an assessment shall include all of the following:
(A) Completion of an assessment poses an undue financial burden on
the parent or legal guardian.
(B) Lack of access by the parent or legal guardian to a licensed
dentist or other licensed or registered dental health professional.
(C) The parent or legal guardian does not consent to an
assessment.
(e) Upon receiving completed assessments, all school districts
shall, by December 31 of each year, submit a report to the county
office of education of the county in which the school district is
located. The report shall include all of the following:
(1) The total number of pupils in the district, by school, who are
subject to the requirement to present proof of having received an
oral health assessment pursuant to subdivision (a).
(2) The total number of pupils described in paragraph (1) who
present proof of an assessment.
(3) The total number of pupils described in paragraph (1) who
could not complete an assessment due to financial burden.
(4) The total number of pupils described in paragraph (1) who
could not complete an assessment due to lack of access to a licensed
dentist or other licensed or registered dental health professional.
(5) The total number of pupils described in paragraph (1) who
could not complete an assessment because their parents or legal
guardians did not consent to their child receiving the assessment.
(6) The total number of pupils described in paragraph (1) who are
assessed and found to have untreated decay.
(7) The total number of pupils described in paragraph (1) who did
not return either the assessment form or the waiver request to the
school.
(f) Each county office of education shall maintain the data
described in subdivision (e) in a manner that allows the county
office to release it upon request.
(g) This section does not prohibit any of the following:
(1) County offices of education from sharing aggregate data
collected pursuant to this section with other governmental agencies,
philanthropic organizations, or other nonprofit organizations for the
purpose of data analysis.
(2) Use of assessment data that is compliant with the federal
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (P.L.
104-191) for purposes of conducting research and analysis on the oral
health status of public school pupils in California.
(h) This section does not preclude a school district or county
office of education from developing a schoolsite-based oral health
assessment program to meet the requirements of this section.
(i) The Office of Oral Health of the Chronic Disease Control
Branch of the State Department of Health Services shall conduct an
evaluation of the requirements imposed by this section and prepare
and submit a report to the Legislature by January 1, 2010, that
discusses any improvements in the oral health of children resulting
from the imposition of those requirements. The Office of Oral Health
may receive private funds and contract with the University of
California to fulfill the duties described in this subdivision.
SEC. 3. Funds allocated to local educational agencies pursuant to
Item 6110-268-0001 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 2006
(Chapters 47 and 48 of the Statutes of 2006) shall first be used to
offset any reimbursement to local educational agencies provided
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of
Title 2 of the Government Code for costs mandated by the state
pursuant to this act.
SEC. 4. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.