GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION LAW 2001-118
AN ACT TO MODIFY THE HEALTH CERTIFICATE REQUIREMENTS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL EMPLOYEES.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 115C-323 reads as rewritten:
''§ 115C-323. Employee health certificate.
(a) All public
school employees upon initial employment, and those who have been separated
from public school employment more than one school year, including
superintendents, supervisors, principals, teachers, and any other employees in
the public schools of the State, shall file in the office of the
superintendent, before assuming his duties, a certificate from a physician
licensed to practice medicine in the State of North Carolina, certifying that
said person does not have tuberculosis in the communicable form, or other
communicable disease, or any disease, physical or mental, which would impair
the ability of the said person to perform effectively his duties. A local
school board or a superintendent may require any person herein named to take a
physical examination when deemed necessary. Any person initially
employed in a public school or reemployed in a public school after an absence
of more than one school year shall provide to the superintendent a certificate
certifying that the person does not have any physical or mental disease,
including tuberculosis in the communicable form or other communicable disease,
that would impair the person's ability to perform his or her duties effectively.
A local board or a superintendent may require any school employee to take a
physical examination when considered necessary.
Any public school employee who has been absent for more than
40 successive school days because of a communicable disease must, shall,
before returning to work, file with the superintendent a physician's
certificateprovide to the superintendent a certificate certifying
that the individual is free from any communicable disease.
(b) One of the following individuals shall prepare any certificate required under this section:
(1) A physician licensed to practice in North Carolina.
(2) A nurse practitioner approved under G.S. 90-18(14).
(3) A physician's assistant licensed to practice in North Carolina.
(c) Notwithstanding subsection (b) of this section, in the case of a person initially employed in a public school, any of the following who holds a current unrestricted license or registration in another state may prepare the certificate so long as evidence of that license or registration is on the certificate:
(1) A physician.
(2) A nurse practitioner.
(3) A physician's assistant.
(d) The examining
physician shall make the aforesaid certificates on an examination form certificate
shall be prepared on a form supplied by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction. The certificate shall be issued only after a physical examination
has been conducted, at the time of the certification, and such examination
shall be in accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction, with approval of the Secretary of Health
and Human Services, and such Services. These rules and
regulations may include the requirement ofmay require an X-ray chest
examination for all new employees of the public school system.
(e) It shall be the duty of the superintendent of the school in which the person is employed to enforce the provisions of this section. Any person violating any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor."
SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 17th day of May, 2001.
s/ Beverly E. Perdue
President of the Senate
s/ James B. Black
Speaker of the House of Representatives
s/ Michael F. Easley
Governor
Approved 4:23 p.m. this 25th day of May, 2001