§18-5-17. Compulsory preenrollment hearing, vision and speech and language testing; developmental screening for children under compulsory school age.

(a) All children entering public school for the first time in this state shall be given prior to their enrollments screening tests to determine if they might have vision or hearing impairments or speech and language disabilities. County boards of education may provide, upon request, such screening tests to all children entering nonpublic school. County boards of education shall conduct these screening tests for all children through the use of trained personnel. Parents or guardians of children who are found to have vision or hearing impairments or speech and language disabilities shall be notified of the results of these tests and advised that further diagnosis and treatment of the impairments or disabilities by qualified professional personnel is recommended.

(b) County boards of education shall provide or contract with appropriate health agencies to provide, upon the request of a parent or guardian residing within the district, developmental screening for their child or children under compulsory school attendance age: Provided, That a county board is not required to provide such screening to the same child more than once in any one school year. Developmental screening is the process of measuring the progress of children to determine if there are problems or potential problems or advanced abilities in the areas of understanding language, perception through sight, perception through hearing, motor development and hand-eye coordination, health, and psycho-social or physical development. The boards shall coordinate the provision of developmental screening with other public agencies and the interagency plan for exceptional children under section eight, article twenty of this chapter to avoid the duplication of services and to facilitate the referral of children and their parents or guardians who need other services. The county boards shall provide notice to the public of the availability of these services.

(c) The state Board of Education is hereby authorized to promulgate rules consistent with this section. The state superintendent is directed to apply for federal funds, if available, for the implementation of the requirements of this section.