In mid April, Conexus leadership presented a full report to Dr. James Lane, Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction and his team showing that a well above average rate of poor vision in the 33 school divisions Conexus served through the Conexus Comprehensive Vision Programming Pilot Program.

​Pictured from Right to Left:
Dr. James Lane, Superintendent; Maribel Saimre, Director of the Office of Student Services; Tim Gresham CEO Conexus; Delegate Roxann Robinson; Delegate Lee Ware; Robin Mead, VP Conexus; Melissa Perry, Conexus; and Tracy White, School Health Nurse Specialist.

Today, Governor Terry McAuliffe signed HB1408 into law!  HB1408 paves the way for schools to use outside resources at their choosing to improve vision outcomes for their students.  As Conexus works to elevate vision as a health priority, this bill offers permissive language for schools to be proactive in advancing vision outcomes in an effort to improve academic performance.  If you’d like to know more about to bring VisioCheck to your school division, contact Melissa Perry.

On February 20, HB1408 passed the Senate on a 38-2 vote and was returned back to the House for a vote on the Senate amendments.  Today, the Senate-amended HB1408 passed the House on a 98-0 vote! Virginia has taken the first step toward improving vision outcomes for students and working to eliminate undetected and untreated vision problems as barriers to success in school.
 
Conexus is grateful for the good work of Delegate Lee Ware to see this bill through and also for the unexpected and very timely support of Ken Hutcheson, who offered his professional guidance in support of HB1408 as the bill made its way through crossover. 
 
There is still much work to be done, but the passage of HB1408 with such strong bipartisan support demonstrates awareness of the need of improved vision programming in schools, which is the first step in active program implementation. 

HB1408 was introduced with amendments to the Senate Health and Education Committee where it was reported out to the Senate on a 15-0 Vote.
 
The next stop will be a second reading on the Senate Floor.
 
To follow the progress of HB1408 click here.

HB1408 passes the House on a 97-0 vote and makes it to crossover.  The process now begins again on the Senate side.

Watch the moving testimony and third reading of HB1408 on the House Floor

The House Appropriations Committee voted to report HB1408 to the House on a 19-0 Vote.
The Bill will be sent to the House floor for it’s first of three readings.

​To follow the progress of HB1408 click here.

The House Appropriations Subcommittee: Elementary and Secondary Education heard HB1408 and recommended to report with amendments to the full House Appropriations Committee on a 6-0 vote.

The Subcommittee recommended language to clarify the permissive nature of the improved screening protocols and pilot programming for a small portion of the Commonwealth.

To follow the progress of HB1408 click here.

§ 22.1-273 of the Code of Virginia requires school based vision screenings for students in K, 3rd, 7th, and 10th grades.  The Code was first introduced in 1950 and, with only some minor changes in 1980, has had no substantial updates.
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HB1408 seeks to update protocols for school based vision screenings and provide school divisions with opportunities to improve vision standards and services for their students. Delegate Lee Ware is the Chief Patron of HB1408 and Delegate Roxann Robinson, OD is the Bill’s Chief Co-Patron.

Today the Bill was introduced in the House Education Committee and passed to Appropriations on a 20-0 vote.  There is a budget amendment in conjunction to the Bill offering funds to school divisions across the Commonwealth to improve school based vision screenings by introducing comprehensive vision programming such as the Conexus VisioCheck program.

To follow the progress of HB1408 click here.