A new law in Idaho will require school staff to get consent from parents before giving a child a Band-Aid or headache medication.
NBC News reports that Senate Bill 1329 went into effect on July 1 and makes it clear that school nurses and staff must have permission before administering non-life-threatening medical services. The bill defines health care services as anything that includes a diagnosis, care, screening, prevention, cure, examination, or relief of any physical or mental health condition, illness, or injury.
“An individual shall not furnish a health care service or solicit to furnish a health care service to a minor child without obtaining the prior consent of the minor child’s parent,” the bill states.
Parents were informed of the changes through a memo The Boise School District recently sent out via email telling them about the new parental consent policy.
“While the Boise School District is not a health care provider in general and does not diagnose medical conditions, we do provide services that are covered by the new law,” the memo reads.
Now, parents will have to provide their official consent to let their child receive routine first aid like Bandages, mental health check-ins, and over-the-counter headache medicine. The Idaho School Boards Association notes that parents might not want “to require explicit permission to provide a bandage.” However, school districts are still urged to follow the law and obtain consent.
“While it may be strange to parents who are being asked to do this, they should know that the district or charter are following the new statute created by SB 1329 … and could be faced with a civil penalty if they fail to comply,” executive director Misty Swanson said in a statement.
The law requires parental consent; however, school staff are being encouraged to “use your best judgment and provide the care as needed” when they cannot obtain consent in a timely manner.
Other controversies surrounding the law include how it prohibits minors from getting sexual assault exams or rape kit exams without parental consent. Critics say this could limit protection for a child who might be experiencing abuse at the hands of a family member.
“So, what I’m going to do as a nurse if a child comes in and says, ‘My stepdad did this to me,’ and mom says, ‘She’s a liar; she’s been nothing but a liar since she’s eight years old, this is not true. He would never do that.’ And I will tell you that happens all too often as well,” she said.
The bill’s lead sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Kelly Anthon, R-Burley, sent an email statement saying this was not the bill’s intent. As a result, Anthon says he’s willing to re-evaluate the bill’s language.
“It was certainly not the intent of the law to limit police investigation of these kinds of crimes,” Anthon wrote in an Aug. 2 email. “I will be happy to look at the language of the statue to see if a change is needed. To my knowledge, no one from the Idaho State Police has contacted me on this matter.”
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