BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
SB 430 (Wright) - Vision Appraisals: Binocular Vision
Amended: April 18, 2013 Policy Vote: Education 9-0;
Health 9-0
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: May 23, 2013 Consultant: Jacqueline
Wong-Hernandez
SUSPENSE FILE.
Bill Summary: SB 430 requires the current vision appraisal of
students to also include tests for binocular function, beginning
in grade 3.
Fiscal Impact: This bill could result in a significant new
mandate on local educational agencies (LEAs), whereby the state
may have to reimburse LEAs for every screening exam performed in
compliance with this bill, and any related staffing or training
costs.
Background: Existing law requires school districts to provide
for the testing of the sight and hearing of each student
enrolled in the district. The test is to be given only by: a)
duly qualified supervisors of health employed by the district;
b) certificated employees of the district or county office of
education who possess the qualifications prescribed by the
Commission on Teacher Credentialing; c) contract with an agency
duly authorized to perform those services by the county
superintendent of schools, under guidelines established by the
State Board of Education; or, d) accredited schools or colleges
or optometry, osteopathic medicine, or medicine. (Education
Code § 49452)
Existing law requires, upon first enrollment in an elementary
school, and at least every third year thereafter until the child
has completed grade 8, the vision of students to be appraised by
the school nurse or other authorized person. The evaluation must
include tests for visual acuity and color vision, however, color
vision is to be appraised once and only on male students. Gross
external observation of the child's eyes, visual performance,
and perception are to be done by the school nurse and the
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classroom teacher. The evaluation may be waived if the parents
present a certificate from a physician and surgeon, a physician
assistant or an optometrist. (EC § 49455)
Related Legislation: AB 1095 (Wright) 2001 would have required
every student, within 90 days of entering grade 1, to undergo a
comprehensive eye exam that includes evaluations of visual
skills such as eye teaming, focusing and tracking that may
impact a child's ability to read. That bill was held under
submission in this Committee.
Proposed Law: SB 430 requires the current vision appraisal of
students to also include screening tests for binocular function.
Specifically, this bill:
1) Adds binocular function to the list of tests included in
the existing vision appraisal given to students every three
years until the student completes grade 8.
2) Specifies that binocular function appraisals need not
begin until the student has reached grade 3.
3) Authorizes the binocular function appraisal to include a
validated symptom survey developed during a National
Institute of Health clinical trial and published for use in
the public domain.
4) Adds binocular function to the list of appraisals that
may be completed by a physician and surgeon, a physician
assistant or an optometrist in lieu of the appraisals
completed at school.
Staff Comments: This bill would expand an existing requirement
on LEAs, by requiring the current vision appraisal of students
to also include screening tests for binocular function, in
grades 3 and 6. While the current vision screenings are mandated
in state law, LEAs are not currently reimbursed for those costs,
because that statutory requirement existed before the adoption
of California Constitution Article 13B requiring state
reimbursement for new duties and higher levels of service
imposed on local entities.
If a test claim were filed for the new mandate imposed by this
bill, it would likely be found by the Commission on State
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Mandates to be reimbursable, since it is clearly a higher level
of service than what is required under existing law. Even a
minor cost to each additional screening would result in
significant statewide reimbursement of the hundreds of school
districts serving pupils in grades 3 and 6.
Staff notes that to the extent that binocular function screening
results in eye conditions being diagnosed and corrected or
mitigated earlier in a pupil's academic career, pupils are
likely to learn more easily and to avoid misdiagnoses that could
result in more expensive, unneeded educational services.