ASSEMBLY, No. 4310

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

218th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED JULY 30, 2018

 


 

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  YVONNE LOPEZ

District 19 (Middlesex)

Assemblywoman  ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT

District 31 (Hudson)

Assemblyman  ANTHONY S. VERRELLI

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

 

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblymen Benson, Thomson, S.Kean, Assemblywoman Murphy, Assemblymen Calabrese, Chiaravalloti, Assemblywomen Jasey, Jimenez, Assemblymen Caputo, A.M.Bucco, Assemblywoman Reynolds-Jackson, Assemblymen Danielsen, Zwicker, Assemblywomen Timberlake and DiMaso

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Requires young children entering public schools or Head Start Programs for first time to have comprehensive eye examination completed.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

  


An Act concerning the vision of certain children and supplementing chapter 40 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes. 

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.    a.  The State Board of Education shall require a child age 6 and under who is entering a public preschool, public school, or a Head Start Program for the first time to have a comprehensive eye examination completed by an optometrist or ophthalmologist by January 1 of the child’s initial year of enrollment in the school or program.

     b.    A principal, director, or other person in charge of a public preschool, public school, or Head Start Program shall collect from the child’s parent or guardian evidence of the child’s comprehensive eye examination, as provided by regulation of the State board.

     c.     A comprehensive eye examination that was performed prior to a child’s initial enrollment in a public preschool, public school, or Head Start Program shall be deemed to satisfy the requirement of this section.

     d.    The State Board of Education shall adopt rules and regulations pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), to implement the provisions  of this section.

     e.     As used in this section, "comprehensive eye examination" means an evaluation that includes a child's history, external and ophthalmoscopic examination, visual acuity, ocular alignment and motility, refraction, and assessment of accommodation and binocular vision, performed by an optometrist or ophthalmologist.

 

     2.    This act shall take effect in the first full school year following the date of enactment.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This bill directs the State Board of Education to require each child age 6 and under who is entering a public preschool, public school, or a Head Start Program for the first time to have a comprehensive eye examination completed by an optometrist or ophthalmologist by January 1 of the child’s initial year of enrollment in the school or program.   A principal, director or other person in charge of a public preschool, public school, or Head Start Program must collect from the child’s parent or guardian evidence of the child’s comprehensive eye examination, as provided by regulation of the State board.  The bill provides that a child who has previously had a comprehensive eye exam will not be required to undergo an additional eye examination upon enrollment in a public preschool, public school, or Head Start Program.