Section 3313.674 | Body mass index and weight screening.
(A) Except as provided in division (D) of this section, the board of education of each city, exempted village, or local school district and the governing authority of each chartered nonpublic school may require each student enrolled in kindergarten, third grade, fifth grade, and ninth grade to undergo a screening for body mass index and weight status category.
(B) The board or governing authority may provide any screenings authorized by this section itself, contract with another entity for provision of the screenings, or request the parent or guardian of each student subject to the screening to obtain the screening from a provider selected by the parent or guardian and to submit the results to the board or governing authority. If the board or governing authority provides the screenings itself or contracts with another entity for provision of the screenings, the board or governing authority shall protect student privacy by ensuring that each student is screened alone and not in the presence of other students or staff.
(C) Each school year, each board or governing authority electing to require the screening shall provide the parent or guardian of each student subject to the screening with information about the screening program. If the board or governing authority requests parents and guardians to obtain a screening from a provider of their choosing, the board or governing authority shall provide them with a list of providers and information about screening services available in the community to parents and guardians who cannot afford a private provider.
(D) If the parent or guardian of a student subject to the screening signs and submits to the board or governing authority a written statement indicating that the parent or guardian does not wish to have the student undergo the screening, the board or governing authority shall not require the student to be screened.
(E) The board or governing authority shall notify the parent or guardian of each student screened under this section of any health risks associated with the student's results and shall provide the parent or guardian with information about appropriately addressing the risks. For this purpose, the department of health, in consultation with the department of education and the healthy choices for healthy children council established under section 3301.92 of the Revised Code, shall develop a list of documents, pamphlets, or other resources that may be distributed to parents and guardians under this division.
(F) The board or governing authority shall maintain the confidentiality of each student's individual screening results at all times. No board or governing authority shall report a student's individual screening results to any person other than the student's parent or guardian.
(G) In a manner prescribed by rule of the director of health, each board or governing authority electing to require the screening shall report aggregated body mass index and weight status category data collected under this section, and any other demographic data required by the director, to the department of health. In the case of a school district, data shall be aggregated for the district as a whole and not for individual schools within the district, unless the district operates only one school. In the case of a chartered nonpublic school, data shall be aggregated for the school as a whole. The department annually may publish the data reported under this division, aggregated by county. For each county in which a district, community school, STEM school, or chartered nonpublic school has elected not to require the screening for a school year for which data is published, the department shall note that the data for the county in which the district or school is located is incomplete. The department may share data reported under this division with other governmental entities for the purpose of monitoring population health, making reports, or public health promotional activities.
Available Versions of this Section
- September 24, 2012 – Senate Bill 316 - 129th General Assembly [ View September 24, 2012 Version ]
- September 29, 2015 – House Bill 64 - 131st General Assembly [ View September 29, 2015 Version ]
- October 3, 2023 – Amended by House Bill 33 - 135th General Assembly [ View October 3, 2023 Version ]