Everett council hears hiring progress for school nurses, requests written update for April meeting

Acting Human Resources Director John Russillo told the Everett City Council that the city has increased school-nurse hiring since the start of the year and asked the council to allow continued recruiting and coordination with the health department.

Russillo said, “we have hired 4 new nurses, 2 of which started today. 1 of which has a hire date or a start date of 03/10, and she was hired today. And then another that has a start date of April.” He added the city currently has 14 school nurses on staff and is funded for 22 positions, and noted the city also uses per-diem nurses and referral pipelines such as Salem State and social-media outreach to recruit candidates.

The hiring update came after School Committee member Joanna Garren and councilors raised concerns that missing nursing staff has limited required screenings and forced cancellations of school field trips. “We still need nurses for the screenings,” Garren told the council during public comment, saying the lack of staff had kept some schools from completing state-mandated vision and hearing checks.

Why it matters: Everett’s school nurses perform state-required screenings and help enable school activities such as field trips; a shortfall in nurses can limit services and programming for students, councilors said.

Councilor Stephanie Smith, sponsor of the earlier item, asked the HR director to summarize hiring steps and next actions; Russillo described recruitment channels (referrals, Salem State connections, a social-media campaign) and said he was pursuing a pipeline through Mass Hire Metro North. He also noted there are seven per-diem nurses the city can use while full-time hiring continues.

Councilors pressed on whether the pay scale and regional nursing shortages were constraining recruitment. Russillo said Everett’s step schedule includes six steps tied to experience and certifications and that pay increases and other recruitment measures could be considered during the next collective bargaining cycle. “If we find that…we’re not being paid enough…those are things that we could take into consideration during the bargaining discussions, which happen next year,” he said.

City Solicitor Colleen Mejia, speaking to certification differences, told the council the city also uses a contract with Cataldo for supplemental RN coverage and noted that School Department requirements differ from Health Department hires: some school positions require a bachelor’s degree and specific DESE certification. “Some of the nurses may not be qualified under the DESE rules,” she said, explaining the distinction between Health Department RNs and DESE-certified school nurses.

Formal action: The council voted to invite the director of Health and Human Services and the interim director of Human Resources to appear at the next meeting and to provide a written status update on the effort to hire new school nurses funded in 2024. The council also voted to postpone formal action and requested that the administration provide a written update at the first meeting in April; the roll call on postponement was recorded as 11 yeas, 0 nays.

The council asked for additional follow-up information in writing, including whether vision and hearing screenings and school field trips have resumed and the staffing status by school. Staff said they would return with the requested written report at the April meeting.

Ending: Councilors said they will continue to press for hires and consider recruitment incentives as the city moves toward bargaining next year; meanwhile staff will provide the requested written update at the council’s first April meeting.