Panel endorses several school-health measures, refers pre-K medication bill and delays nurse-per-school mandate

A Virginia legislative subcommittee on school health took action on multiple bills during its session, endorsing several measures, referring one item for further review and deferring a controversial school-nurse mandate pending additional analysis.

Committee staff briefed members on six bills and the full committee voted its recommendations on each. The committee endorsed legislation to allow school divisions more flexibility in using at-risk add-on funds for student physical and mental health supports, endorsed a proposal to create two Medicaid billing navigator positions at the Department of Education, extended the conditional-enrollment window for hepatitis A immunization, clarified authorization language for undesignated stock albuterol inhalers, and referred a medication-administration bill covering pre-K students to the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education for further review. A proposal to require one licensed school nurse per school building was carried over for more detailed analysis.

Ryan (committee staff) summarized the bills and fiscal impacts. The at-risk add-on bill (packet identifier shown as 00144d) would allow school divisions to use existing at-risk add-on funds to support physical and mental health services, including hiring registered nurses and, after stakeholder request, advanced practice registered nurses; the…