If the true intent of this bill is to "ensure that students coming from those facilities and enrolling or re-enrolling in public schools receive the educational supports they need" then this bill should include a requirement that with the informed consent of the parent a full IDEA evaluation or reevaluation of the student be conducted by the receiving school for any student being released from a residential treatment facility to determine if the student is eligible for services pursuant to IDEA or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, or in the case of students already identified as eligible under IDEA, what additional special education or related services the child needs to address the unique needs of the child and ensure access of the child to the general curriculum. 8 VAC 20-81-10. While it may seem obvious that these evaluations/reevaluations would be automatically triggered when a child returns from a residential treatment facility as part of a school district's "Child Find" obligation under IDEA and Section 504, the reality is that schools are not always choosing to do them in these situations. To make an IDEA evaluation or reevaluation pursuant to 8 VAC 20-81-60 & 20-81-70 (including the required informed parental consent) a requirement in this bill will ensure that these children are not falling through the cracks when they return to school.

This is an important bill to assist school divisions in working with residential facilities to ensure that students coming from those facilities and enrolling or re-enrolling in public schools receive the educational supports they need while the school division's mental health professionals are also alerted to any threat to safety the student's return may pose. When a similar bill was introduced in the Senate Health and Education subcommittee, some youth advocacy groups and mental health groups voiced concerns about the language. These groups and I met and we agreed to changes that narrowed the scope to include information related only to a student's required education supports and any threat to safety. Also, the new language states that the information will be provided to a mental health professional in the school division, not to the superintendent and safety officer. I would recommend the same edits to this bill.

Speaking against because of unintended consequences for students with disabilities

Please vote no on this bill. It would violate a patient’s HIPPA rights. As a former teacher, I am aware of the fact that student records are not always kept as confidential as we would all hope. This information could easily fall into the wrong hands, and cause the student and their family more hardship. Thank you!

I am adamantly opposed to this bill. There is no reason why a school district should be allowed access to a minor’s health records without parental consent. This is complete violation of the privacy expected around health-related issues and opens the student family up for exposure of personal and private information that schools have no business knowing unless explicitly shared by the parents and legal guardians. If students records are to shared in this manner, why aren’t teacher or administrators records shared ?

Vote no on HB1017 which is a breach of HIPPA. Please protect patient privacy.

VOTE NO on HB1017 I am very concerned with the systemic breach of patient confidentiality this would enable. Parents should control what sensitive medical information about their child is released and to whom. I can think of several scenarios where it would not be in the student's best interest to automatically give a copy of discharge paperwork to the school. Our school divisions have not been the best guardians of this information. See https://www.the74million.org/article/exclusive-virginias-fairfax-schools-expose-thousands-of-sensitive-student-records/ (Fairfax has had several breaches of sensitive student information.) https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/education/fairfax-county-public-schools-student-teacher-data-hacked-on-dark-web-ransomware-attack/65-6e6d455b-a652-440f-beb3-aac6abf80465 Additionally, this bill would strip students with disabilities of the protection of their sensitive medical information that nondisabled students are provided by Federal law. VOTE NO on HB1017

Please vote against this Bill! I have concerns for the privacy for our children! This Bill seems to violate HIPPA. It should be up to the parents/guardians what information they choose to disclose to the school.

Vote no on HB1017. This is an aggregious violation of HIPAA for students with disabilities. The decision on what to disclose to a school about an inpatient psychiatric hospitalization should be left up to the student, their parents, and their doctors--not a government-sponsored services board. Individuals with mental health conditions are far more likely to be the victims of violence than to perpretate it themselves. HB1017 is an invasion of privacy that will stigmatize students with disabilities while doing absolutely nothing for public safety.

My name is Melissa Waugh and I am a special education attorney representing Virginia families of children with disabilities. I have been practicing special education law in VA for 14 years. I have reviewed the text of HB1017 and I am very concerned with the systemic breach of patient confidentiality this would enable. Parents should control what sensitive medical information about their child is released and to whom. I can think of several scenarios where it would not be in the student's best interest to give a copy of that discharge paperwork to the school automatically (e.g., it could include sensitive information about sexual abuse or a rape the school has no business knowing, statements about past behavior the school would use as an excuse to keep the kid out of school, etc.). I'm also concerned that it's going to the Superintendent and division safety official . . . so how many other people will they be forwarding this sensitive information to within the school? Sensitive reports that can impact a child's future should be subject to the strictest privacy protections. While FERPA is supposed to protect a student's educational records, our school divisions have not been the best guardians of this information. See https://www.the74million.org/article/exclusive-virginias-fairfax-schools-expose-thousands-of-sensitive-student-records/ . This bill would strip students with disabilities of the protection of their sensitive medical information that nondisabled students are provided by Federal law. While I realize the language of the bill does not specify students with disabilities, if a student must be hospitalized for inpatient treatment, then by definition a major life activity has been impacted qualifying the individual for protection under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. This raises the question of whether this bill discriminates on the basis of disability, or at a minimum, would have a disparate impact on students with disabilities. In addition, the Federal HIPAA Privacy Rule protects all "individually identifiable health information" held or transmitted by a covered entity (health care providers) and the Rule calls this information "protected health information" (PHI). 45 C.F.R. § 160.103. Releasing this type of PHI to a school without the patient's (or minor patient's parental) authorization is not one of the permitted uses of PHI discussed in the HIPAA Privacy Rule. 45 C.F.R. § 164.502(a)(1). While there is a general exception for releases of PHI required by law, what is the justification for passing a law that narrows the rights of our most vulnerable children by automatically disclosing information that could hurt them in the future? If the concern is that a potentially dangerous student would be returned to the school community, HIPAA already provides an exception for this. 45 C.F.R. § 164.512(j) (Covered entities may disclose PHI that they believe is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to a person or the public, when such disclosure is made to someone they believe can prevent or lessen the threat (including the target of the threat)). We need to let medical professionals do their jobs and disclose PHI when it is necessary, not on a perfunctory basis. It is for these reasons that I respectfully ask committee members to vote against HB1017. Thank you.