§ 3208 — Attendance; screening of new entrants; prohibition against mandatory medication

* § 3208. Attendance; screening of new entrants; prohibition against\nmandatory medication. 1. A person included by the provisions of this\npart shall be required to attend upon instruction only if in proper\nmental and physical condition.\n 2. A person whose mental or physical condition is such that his or her\nattendance upon instruction under the provisions of this part would\nendanger the health or safety of such person or of others shall not be\npermitted to attend, provided that nothing in this section shall be\nconstrued to authorize a denial of access to education based on\ndisability in violation of state or federal law.\n 3. If a person's mental or physical condition, by virtue of which he\nor she is not required or permitted to attend upon instruction, is due\nto a mental or physical condition which may be remedied by the taking of\nreasonable measures, such mental or physical condition shall justify\nonly the temporary failure of the person to attend.\n 4. The determination of mental or physical condition under the\nprovisions of this part shall be based upon actual examination made by a\nperson or persons qualified by appropriate training and experience, in\naccordance with regulations of the department. The department shall\ndesignate persons having the required qualifications to make such mental\nor physical examinations on behalf of any local school authorities,\nexcept that in a city having a population of one million or more the\nsuperintendent of schools shall designate such persons.\n 4-a. Officers or employees of the state, a school district, a board of\ncooperative educational services, a charter school, an approved private\nschool for the education of students with disabilities approved pursuant\nto paragraph e, f, g or h of subdivision two of section forty-four\nhundred one of this chapter, an approved provider of preschool special\neducation approved pursuant to section forty-four hundred ten of this\nchapter or a state-supported school operating pursuant to article\nforty-five of this chapter, shall be prohibited from requiring a child\nwho is entitled to attend school pursuant to subdivision one of section\nthirty-two hundred two of this part to obtain a prescription for a\nsubstance covered by the federal controlled substances act, section\neight hundred one of title twenty-one of the United States code, et\nseq., as a condition of attending school, receiving an evaluation or\nreevaluation pursuant to article eighty-nine of this chapter or any\nother provision of law relating to students with disabilities or\nreceiving special education programs or services.\n 5. a. Each board of education or trustees of each school district\nshall provide for the screening of every new entrant to school to\ndetermine which pupils are or may be children with disabilities or\ngifted children, as well as all pupils who score below level two on\neither the third grade English language arts or mathematics assessments\nfor New York state elementary schools, in accordance with regulations of\nthe commissioner to determine whether such pupils may have disabilities.\n b. Such screening shall include, but not be limited to:\n (1) A physical examination pursuant to the provisions of sections nine\nhundred one, nine hundred three and nine hundred four of this chapter,\nincluding proof of immunization as required by section twenty-one\nhundred sixty-four of the public health law.\n (2) A language development assessment.\n c. If such screening indicates a suspected disability, which may\nrequire the provision of special education services or programs, a\nreferral shall be made to the committee on special education.\n d. If such screening indicates a possibly gifted child, the name and\nfinding shall be reported to the superintendent of schools of such\ndistrict and to the parent or legal guardian of such child. Such\nnotification shall not be construed as an entitlement for services for\nany such child identified as possibly gifted.\n * NB Effective until June 30, 2027\n * § 3208. Attendance; proper mental and physical condition. 1. A\nperson included by the provisions of part one of this article shall be\nrequired to attend upon instruction only if in proper mental and\nphysical condition.\n 2. A person whose mental or physical condition is such that his\nattendance upon instruction under the provisions of part one of this\narticle would endanger the health or safety of himself or of others\nshall not be permitted to attend.\n 3. If a person's mental or physical condition, by virtue of which he\nis not required or permitted to attend upon instruction, is due to\nphysical defects or to a physical condition which may be remedied by the\ntaking of reasonable measures, such mental or physical condition shall\njustify only the temporary failure of the person to attend.\n 4. The determination of mental or physical condition under the\nprovisions of part one of this article shall be based upon actual\nexamination made by a person or persons qualified by appropriate\ntraining and experience, in accordance with regulations of the state\neducation department. The state education department shall designate\npersons having the required qualifications to make such mental or\nphysical examinations on behalf of any local school authorities, except\nthat in a city having a population of one million or more the\nsuperintendent of schools shall designate such persons.\n 5. a. Each board of education or trustees of each school district\nshall provide for the screening of every new entrant to school to\ndetermine which pupils are or may be children with handicapping\nconditions or gifted, as well as all pupils who score below level two on\neither the third grade reading or mathematics tests for New York state\nelementary schools and all students who obtain a comparable percentile\nscore on the regents preliminary competency test, in accordance with\nregulations of the commissioner to determine whether such pupils may\nhave handicapping conditions.\n b. Such screening shall include, but not be limited to:\n (1) A physical examination pursuant to the provisions of sections nine\nhundred one, nine hundred three and nine hundred four of this chapter,\nincluding proof of immunization as required by section twenty-one\nhundred sixty-four of the public health law.\n (2) A language development assessment.\n c. If such screening indicates a suspected handicapping condition,\nwhich may require the provision of special education services or\nprograms, a referral shall be made to the committee on special\neducation.\n d. If such screening indicates a possibly gifted child, the name and\nfinding shall be reported to the superintendent of schools of such\ndistrict and to the parent or legal guardian of such child. Such\nnotification shall not be construed as an entitlement for services for\nany such child identified as possibly gifted.\n * NB Effective June 30, 2027\n