Section 23.32. School physicians

(a) Qualifications. School physicians shall be legally qualified to practice medicine and surgery, osteopathy or osteopathic surgery in this Commonwealth.

(b) Employment. School districts alone or jointly with other districts or joint school boards shall employ school physicians and compensate them on a basis agreed between the physician and the board. Compensation may not be less than $6 per hour. Appointments shall be approved by the Department of Health. School districts shall submit through the county or district medical director or the county health director to the regional medical director the names of school physicians for approval by the Secretary of Health.

(c) Duties. School physicians shall perform the required examinations of children in the specified grades. They shall, if their agreement with the board so states, give preemployment examinations to school personnel. They shall examine children who appear to deviate from their normal health or growth and development pattern and such examinations shall be given at the request of the administrator or teacher or nurse or on the initiative of the physicians. The school physicians shall vaccinate children of indigent parents, revaccinate children with temporary vaccination certificates, examine children incident to the issuance of employment certificates, approve return of children who have been absent due to a contagious disease or suspected contagious disease, and perform other duties that may be required by the board of school directors not inconsistent with the rules and regulations of the Department of Health.