Have any parents brought a “seizure management and treatment plan” to the school?  A bill passed by the legislature this year authorizes parents to develop such a plan in conjunction with the treating physician.  Such a plan will 1) identify the health care services the student may receive at school or school activities; 2) evaluate the student’s ability to manage, and the level of the student’s understanding of the seizures; and 3) be signed by parent and doctor.

This new law, HB 684, will be codified at Texas Education Code 38.032 and .033.  The new law includes language designed to ease the anxieties of school officials when treating a student’s seizures. It says that the care of a student with a seizure disorder as per a treatment plan is “incident to or within the scope of the duties of the employee’s position of employment and involves the exercise of judgment or discretion.”  That language is borrowed from the statute that provides immunity from liability for school officials.

So look for these plans, and online training that will be required for a school nurse as well as any other employee “whose duties at the school include regular contact with students.” That’s just about everybody, isn’t it?

DAWG BONE: WE ARE ONE OF ONLY FOUR STATES WITH A LAW LIKE THIS. GOOD ON TEXAS!

Tomorrow: The misleading word “mandatory.”