NC Democrats, backed by some Republicans, want a nurse in every school
North Carolina Senate Democrats introduced a bill Wednesday that would require every public school in the state employ a nurse in an effort to provide improve the ratio of students-to-nurses.
For every 1,000 students in North Carolina public schools, districts currently employ only one school nurse, according to the most recent data collected by the state health department. More than half of those nurses serve two or more schools. The National Association of School Nurses recommends one school nurse for every 750 students.
“When we focus on a student’s well-being, the student is more able to focus on learning,” said Paul Koh, Wake County Public Schools assistant superintendent. “School nurses play a key role in this effort.”
Two identical bills also have been filed in the House with some Republican support. One House version of the bill, sponsored by Rep. Gale Adcock, a Cary Democrat, would require that all public schools, including charter schools, employ a full-time nurse.
Another version, sponsored by Rep. Cynthia Ball, a Democrat from Raleigh, allocates $102 million to implement the change. The Senate version, sponsored by Cary Democrat Sen. Wiley Nickel, mirrors Ball’s version of the bill.
Gov. Roy Cooper’s proposed budget, released Wednesday, also includes $80 million in funding for more school nurses, counselors, psychologists and social workers, The News & Observer reported.
A second bill introduced in a news conference Wednesday would allocate funds for social workers and psychologists in schools. The bill would allocate nearly $50.9 million for the upcoming fiscal year and increase to $508.8 by 2030.
No Senate Republicans have explicitly expressed their support for either of the bills.
Sen. Phil Berger’s office said in a statement Wednesday that the student-to-nurse ratio has improved every year since Republicans took control of the legislature in 2010.
“Republican policies have resulted in methodical improvements in the nurse-to-student ratio for the past decade,” Sen. Brent Jackson, a Republican from Sampson County, said in an email statement. “Reasonable people can and will disagree on the pace of that improvement, and I welcome that. Our philosophy has long been that steady, predictable improvement is better than roller coaster-style budgeting that sees major jumps in boom years followed by major cuts in lean years.”
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