§ 43.11 Health; Staff.
RCNY § 43.11
(a)Isolation and exclusion pursuant to 24 RCNY Health Code Article 11. The person in charge of a school must isolate and exclude any staff member who is suspected or confirmed with, or has been exposed to, a communicable disease requiring isolation or exclusion under 24 RCNY Health Code Article 11. A staff member who has been excluded must not be permitted to return to the school without a written statement from a health care provider indicating that the staff member is free from such disease in communicable form and that the period of isolation or exclusion required by 24 RCNY Health Code Article 11 has ended.
(b)Physical examination certificates. No educational director, teacher, substitute, volunteer worker, office worker, kitchen worker, maintenance worker or other staff member who regularly associates with children shall be permitted to work in a school unless such person is healthy and capable of carrying out the responsibilities of the job. Prior to commencing work, all such staff and volunteers shall present a certificate from a licensed health care provider certifying that, on the basis of medical history and physical examination, such staff member or volunteer is physically and mentally able to perform assigned duties. Such certificate shall be submitted every two (2) years thereafter as a condition of employment. Certificates of required physical examinations and other medical or personal health information about staff shall be kept on file at the place of employment, shall be confidential, and shall be kept separate from all other personnel or employment records.
(c)Staff immunizations.
(1)Each staff person and volunteer must obtain a report from a health care provider who is a licensed physician, nurse practitioner, physician's assistant, or doctor of osteopathy certifying that such person has been immunized with two doses of measles-containing vaccine; two doses of mumps-containing vaccine; one dose of rubella-containing vaccine; two doses of varicella-containing vaccine (chicken pox); one dose of tetanus, diphtheria and acellular pertussis (Tdap) in accordance with recommendations of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) or other nationally recognized evidence-based guidelines. Persons born on or before December 31, 1956 are not required to have measles, mumps or rubella vaccines. A history of having health care provider documented varicella or herpes zoster disease is acceptable in place of varicella vaccine. A history of having measles, mumps or rubella disease shall not be substituted for the measles, mumps or rubella vaccine. A laboratory test demonstrating detectable varicella, measles, mumps, or rubella antibodies is also acceptable in place of varicella, measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. A staff person or volunteer may be exempted from this immunization requirement for recognized medical contraindications as provided by ACIP or other nationally recognized evidence-based guidelines, upon submission of appropriate documentation from a physician licensed in the State of New York.
(2)Each staff person and volunteer must submit such report of immunization to the person in charge of a school where he or she is employed or volunteers. Reports of immunizations shall be confidential and must be kept by the person in charge of a school in a paper or electronic file with other staff and volunteer health information, except that such reports must be made available to the Department upon request. If such records are maintained electronically, Department staff must be allowed to access such records while on-site.
(3)No principal, teacher, owner, or person in charge of a school shall permit any staff member or volunteer to attend such school without appropriate documentation of the immunizations required by paragraph (1) of this subdivision.
(d)Test for tuberculosis infection. The Department may require testing for tuberculosis at any time of any persons in a school when such testing is deemed necessary for epidemiological investigation. (Amended City Record 9/20/2016, eff. 10/20/2016; amended City Record 12/26/2019, eff. 1/25/2020)
