Ticks

Act 120 of 2024, which amended the Public School Code of 1949 - Health Services, requires our school nurses, school physicians or designated employees to remove a tick from a student in accordance with guidelines issued by the Secretary of Health. After removal, the tick shall:  

1. Be preserved for the parent or guardian of the student to send to the Tick Research Lab of Pennsylvania for testing if they choose to do so. The school entity shall provide information to the parent or guardian on how to send the tick to the Tick Research Lab of Pennsylvania; or
2. Be sent directly by the school entity to the Tick Research Lab of Pennsylvania for testing using the free basic panel tick test.  

If sent by the school entity, upon receiving the results, the school entity shall send the original results to the student’s parent or guardian without making a copy of the results or including results in the student’s school medical record. The school entity, however, may, notate the disease present in the tick without identifying personal information of the child for data purposes.  

After the tick is removed from the student, the school entity will notify the parent or guardian of the student in writing, as required by law.