RILSF Vision Screening in Schools

Please review the  RI regulations for School Health Programs at

https://rules.sos.ri.gov/Regulations/part/216-20-10-4?reg_id=11495 . Section 4.13 is relevant for vision screening. The The RI Lions Sight Foundation (RILSF) only does vision screening using Welch-Allyn spot cameras. Some local town Lions clubs can do testing using Titmus machines (electronic method similar to Snellen chart testing, but not identical) but the RILSF does not schedule this kind of testing. 

If you want to go ahead and schedule vision screening by the RILSF, please read the following:

1. The RILSF will need the following information:

   • School nurse's name, email address, school name, school address

   • The number of students that need to be screened. (RI regulations require grades 1-5, 7, and 9 need to be screened every year.) The number should be within 50 of the actual number because this determines the number of screeners needed.

   • 3-4 dates that are suitable for your school to do vision screening (in order of preference). Note that Fridays are not good for inner city schools because of absenteeism. Nor are days immediately before or after holidays.

2. Scheduling starts in late August (after school has started). Because our equipment is loaned out to local RI Lions clubs to do vision screening in their local schools, we typically  do not schedule vision screening by the RILSF until after mid-October. 

3. The spot cameras looks into the student's eyes to take readings. It is extremely quick (typically less than  30 seconds) unless the student is wearing glasses or there is something outside the general norm with the students eyes. (For example, if a student has very bad eye sight and does not have glasses, getting readings can be more challenging.)

4. Since the equipment is looking into the student's eyes through the pupils of the eyes, the bigger the pupils the easier it is to get a reading. Hence,  the vision screening location must not have any direct sunlight (very important). If you use blinds to cover windows, it is better if they are  room darkening; there should  not have gaps along the sides and bottoms,  otherwise, it can be almost impossible to screen students wearing glasses.
   We can screen most students if there are fluorescent lights illuminating the area provided the lighting is not too bright.​​

5. Make sure the administration of your school knows about the vision screening  and your arrangements for the vision screening. This helps avoid a problem if  on the day of screening you are unable to be present.  

6. When a school nurse contacts the RILSF asking for vision screening, they will be sent an email with essentially all the information above.
   When a tentative date for the vision screening has been agreed on, the RILSF will find volunteers to do the vision screening. When sufficient volunteers have agreed they can do the screening ( there will normally be one screener for 100-150 students and will be sufficient to complete the screening in 1 to 1.5 hours ), a 2nd email is sent to the school nurse (Cc'ing the screeners) confirming the number of students who need to be screened, the number of screeners, their names, as well as the the school name and address, and arrival and start times for the vision screening plus additional instructions. About a week before the screening, a 3rd email is sent to the nurse, Ccing the screeners, reminding them of the screening and checking the school name and address. 

7.  Each vision screener needs a space of about 8 ft by 4 ft.   There should be space for the students to get in and out of the room easily.

8. If the reading on the spot cameras indicates that a student's vision was out of the norm, the screener will ask the student to give their name to the nurse; this is a recommendation that the student be rescreened and if they fail the rescreening, for the student to see an eye doctor for a complete eye exam.

9. The nurse must have an alphabetized  list of students for each class, checking off which students are screened, and marking on the list which students need to be rescreened. Because screening goes  fast, there should be one person managing the students as they wait and one person marking the sheet (for who was screened and who need rescreening). At then end of the screening the nurse must give the screeners the number of students screened and the number recommended for rescreening.

10. There should be no delay between classes being ready to be screened. A typical class of 25-30 students can take less than 5 minutes to be screened so coordinating with teachers to get classes to the screening is important. Provided the students are ready and waiting to be tested, we can test about 100 students per hour per screener or better.

11. If the students have limited English, please make sure there is someone (a teacher or administrator) that can help translate any instructions we need to give the students.

12. The RILSF recommends that you perform  the rescreening (visual acuity testing) of the students who the screeners have recommended be rescreened. The Sight Foundation does not have the equipment for doing visual acuity tests (which are required by the RI Health Department).

13. If the screeners require a RI state background check (BCI), make sure you let the RILSF  know when you pick the dates for screening.
    Please check your town’s policy about requiring a RI BCI for people performing a service at your school.  Some towns may have stricter policies than the state law.
    Many of the Sight Foundation members who will be doing vision screening do not have  a RI BCI. Therefore,  we will assume there will be a school employee from your school in the room with the vision screeners at all times monitoring what they are doing unless you have told the RILSF the screeners must have a RI BCI

14. The vision  screeners will arrive at your school at 9:30am and are available to do screening until 11:30am (unless you make arrangements beforehand).