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Bill would require Maryland health and education agencies to track school health and wellness workforce
Summary
Delegate Bonnie Collison told the committee HB 672 would direct the Maryland Department of Health and Department of Education to jointly collect and publish regular statewide data on school nurses and other school‑based health professionals to fill gaps in planning and workforce policy.
Delegate Bonnie Collison presented House Bill 672 to require the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) and the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) to collect and publish statewide, regularly updated data on school health and wellness staff.
Sponsors said published, up‑to‑date workforce data would help policymakers assess shortages of school nurses, counselors, social workers, speech‑language pathologists and other practitioners and to target loan repayment and Medicaid‑reimbursement expansions.
Nut graf: The bill would expand reporting beyond nurses to include the broader school‑based health team; sponsors said the latest statewide school‑nurse statistics date from 2018–2019 and argued a public, recurring dataset would let agencies and districts plan and allocate resources.
Delegate Collison described the bill as a response to a 2022 two‑year workforce study and ongoing state investments in school‑based health, including loan repayment for school nurses and counseling staff and Medicaid billing expansions for certain school services. Robin Elliott and Liz Elliott of the Maryland Association of School Nurses testified in support, calling the legislation “an extension of this committee's work” and urging the committee to allow yearly or near‑yearly reporting.
Student speakers from Montgomery County described how school wellness centers and mental‑health programming had helped them, and said statewide data would identify gaps in access and staffing.
Committee members asked about costs and whether MDH and MSDE had current staff capacity to carry out the work. Delegate Collison said she would seek information on personnel and the department amendment that proposed narrowing the list of recognized auxiliary services.
Ending: Sponsors said they would work with stakeholders on amendments; supporters urged a favorable report to improve transparency and planning for school‑based health services.
All quotes used in this article are from speakers who testified and are attributed to names in the speaker list.
