Employment of health professionals

§ 902. Employment of health professionals. 1. As used in this article\n"health professionals" means persons duly licensed or otherwise\nauthorized to practice a health profession pursuant to applicable law,\nincluding, but not limited to, physicians, registered professional\nnurses, nurse practitioners, physicians assistants, optometrists,\ndentists, dental hygienists, dietitians and nutritionists, and\naudiologists.\n 2. a. The board of education, and the trustee or board of trustees of\neach school district, shall employ, at a compensation to be agreed upon\nby the parties, a qualified physician, or a nurse practitioner to the\nextent authorized by the nurse practice act and consistent with\nsubdivision three of section six thousand nine hundred two of this\nchapter, to perform the duties of the director of school health\nservices, including any duties conferred on the school physician or\nschool medical inspector under any provision of law, to perform and\ncoordinate the provision of health services in the public schools and to\nprovide health appraisals of students attending the public schools in\nthe city or district. The physicians or nurse practitioners so employed\nshall be duly licensed pursuant to applicable law.\n b. Any such board or trustees may employ one or more school nurses,\nwho shall be registered professional nurses, as well as other health\nprofessionals, as may be required. Such registered professional nurses\nand other health professionals shall aid the director of school health\nservices of the district and shall perform such duties, including health\ninstruction for the benefit of the public schools as may be prescribed\nby such board or trustees, in compliance with each such health\nprofessional's practice act.\n 3. Health professionals may be employed by the trustees or boards of\neducation of two or more school districts, and the compensation of such\nhealth professionals, and the expenses incurred in providing school\nhealth services for students as provided in this article, shall be borne\njointly by such districts, and be apportioned among them in any manner\nagreed to by such districts in a sharing agreement entered pursuant to\nsection one hundred nineteen-o of the general municipal law. The\ntrustees or boards of education of two or more school districts in a\nsupervisory district may enter into an agreement, or agreements as may\nbe required, with a board of cooperative educational services for the\nprovision of the services of one or more registered professional nurses,\nand other health professionals to perform health services, including\nhealth instruction in such districts.\n