School
Nursing
Services
By: Eric G. Rodriguez
Related Services
34 C.F.R. § 300.34
“means transportation and such
developmental, corrective, and other
supportive services as are required to
assist a child with a disability to benefit
from special education and includes…”
Related Services
34 C.F.R. § 300.34 (emphasis added)
• “speech-language pathology and
audiology services… and medical
services for diagnostic or evaluation
purposes. Related services also include
school health services and school
nurse services, social work services in
schools, and parent counseling and
training”
34 CFR § 300.34(c)(13)
“School health services and school nurse
services means health services that are
designed to enable a child with a
disability to receive FAPE as described in
the child's IEP….”
34 CFR § 300.34(c)(13) (con’t)
“School nurse services are services
provided by a qualified school nurse.
School health services are services that
may be provided by either a qualified
school nurse or other qualified person."
Significance?
Consideration of whether a student
requires school nursing services should
be made using the same procedures
used to consider any other related
service. In short:
• Evaluation (with the requisite consent)
&
• ARD committee consideration and
decision.
....Real Significance?
If there are private duty nurses providing
services in your district, and your district
has not evaluated and convened an ARD
committee to consider whether the
student qualified for related service
school nursing services this is a potential
legal problem.
Potential legal issues:
• Failure to conduct appropriate
evaluation
• Failure to identify eligibility for related
services
• Failure to provide FAPE
Evaluation
• From a medical doctor to identify what
tasks require skilled nursing services
(as opposed to school health services),
pursuant to Doctor’s orders.
We want to bring our nurse…
Some suggested steps:
1.Ask for a copy of any doctors’ orders
and seek consent to contact the doctor
(have the school nurse be part of this
conversation).
2.Notice an ARD.
We want to bring our nurse…
Some suggested steps:
3.Discuss the information in the ARD to
determine:
– Student needs (& expectations of your
district)
– Qualification of service providers
– Frequency, duration, and location
If the student qualifies
• A district has discretion in selecting a
nurse, unless the district will seek
reimbursement through SHARS.
• But, if the services are provided by the
district as a SHARS provider, parents
have “freedom of choice of providers,”
pursuant to 42 CFR § 431.51.
Freedom of Choice of Providers
If the parent requests that someone other
than the district’s employees provide a
related service, the district must make a
good faith effort to comply with the
parent’s request. A district may negotiate
with the provider to provide the services
under a contract.
http://www.tmhp.com/tmppm/2011/Vol2_
Children’s_Services_Handbook.pdf
Why do you want a contract?
• To be certain that you can exercise
supervision over the provider in
connection with:
– Services and responsibilities
– Records
– Campus policies
What if the provider refuses?
If the provider refuses to sign an
agreement the district must provide the
related services but is not required to use
the student’s preferred provider.
Other options?
• A district may elect to permit a nurse on
campus as a courtesy, but this can be
problematic and we encourage you to
consult with your own legal counsel
before you take this step.
School
Nursing
Services
By: Eric G. Rodriguez