School committee seeks follow-up on student health screenings required by state law

Committee members on Dec. 2 pressed district staff for clarity about student health screenings and whether the district is meeting state requirements under Massachusetts General Laws, c.71, §57.

Miss Guerin said a constituent reported that elementary students had not received vision or hearing screenings. "I would like to know why this isn't happening and what we can do to remedy it," she said. The superintendent responded with a statutory summary of typical screening grades and procedures and said the city public health director had indicated screenings would occur after January.

The superintendent listed the age groups he understood to be required by practice or by guidance: BMI (height and weight) screenings in grades 1, 4, 7 and 10; vision in kindergarten through grade 5; hearing in kindergarten, grades 1–3, grade 7 and grade 10; and postural screening in grades 5–9. He also said school nurses conduct screenings and that equipment is ordinarily signed out from city hall to schools for testing.

Board members noted COVID-related delays and limited nursing staff as possible causes for missed screenings and asked staff to check historical records. The committee voted to lay the item over and invited Sabrina Ferricano (school health) to the next meeting to provide more detailed information and records about which screenings were completed and when.

Next steps: the committee asked the superintendent to coordinate with the city public health director and Sabrina Ferricano to present records at the next meeting so the board can confirm compliance and identify any remedies needed to meet statutory requirements.