School Board Approves In-House STD and Pregnancy Testing
New York school district will start testing in school clinics.
July 27, 2009— -- The school nurse can serve a variety of functions, from administering first aid to taking temperature to ... pregnancy testing?
Starting this fall, the health centers in New York's Port Chester public school district -- including Port Chester elementary, middle and high schools -- will begin providing STD and pregnancy testing to requesting students.
Any student who tests positive for infection or pregnancy can be referred to a nearby off-campus treatment facility.
The proposal was tabled by Open Door Family Medical Centers, which provides the district's schools with federally funded clinics staffed with nurse practitioners, and the school board passed it last month.
According to the Open Door's director of clinical services, 19 of 525 girls at the district's high school were pregnant or parenting in 2008, many of whom found out only because they were routinely tested before receiving vaccinations, reported The Journal News.
State law doesn't require parental notification for pregnancy or disease, though provisions for pap smears and "morning after" pill dispensation were removed before the board approved the measure.
The proposal passed just one dissenting vote -- from board president Anne Capeci.
"I had a problem with telling a 13-year-old without their parent there," Capeci told The Journal News. "I would like Open Door to use the medical facility downtown and not use the school as a quasi-maternity clinic."
Port Chester is the only district in Westchester County to use the clinics, which were created to help children with no health coverage despite being open to any student.
Supporters Say Student STD Testing Could Be Helpful
While opponents fear the lack of parental oversight may allow some students to be more promiscuous, many feel the new procedure will provide quick and effective treatment.
"I think it's a great idea," Adrienne Concra, the mother of a 14-year-old in the high school, told The Journal News. "With a young woman, she may suffer because she can't approach her parents about the topic. It makes sense to me."