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Superintendent says nursing shortage has halted some Everett school field trips; parents raise concerns about screenings and DESE licensure
Summary
A parent and educator told the committee that Everett Public Schools lacks DESE-licensed school nurses and that vision/hearing screenings and field trips have been affected. Superintendent Hart described staffing arrangements with the city health department, current nurse counts, use of agency nurses, and barriers from licensing and wages.
A public commenter urged the Everett School Committee to prioritize staffing and licensure for school nurses after saying students are missing vision and hearing screenings and some field trips are being canceled.
"Children deserve access to basic health services like vision and hearing screenings to ensure they can learn without unnecessary barriers," said Jessica Goldboots, a multilingual teacher and Everett parent, during the public-comment period. Goldboots told the committee she understood Everett school nurses are hired by the city health department and therefore are not licensed through the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), and she asked the committee to prioritize funding for school nurses so field trips and screenings can resume.
Superintendent Hart acknowledged the situation and described how nursing coverage is arranged in Everett. He said the city of Everett’s health department recruits, hires and assigns school nurses and the district is charged back for those positions in the budget. Hart said historic staffing levels reached about 22 nurses; currently nine nurses are assigned to Everett school buildings with a tenth serving as a floating nurse and occasional coverage provided by the public-health director and assistant, and by contracted agency nurses. "We never leave a building without a nurse," Hart said, but he added that he has halted field trips that would require a nurse to accompany students because sending a nurse off-site would leave a large building unstaffed.
Hart described DESE licensure as an administrative step that includes a literacy exam (which the superintendent described as an additional test and fee) and said most Everett nurses are registered nurses who have passed the NCLEX and are licensed by the state department of public health. He said the requirement for DESE licensure could deter some nurses from school work, and that a statewide nursing shortage and wage differentials—Hart noted Cambridge Health Alliance pays substantially higher starting wages—contribute to recruitment difficulties.
Committee members discussed options including recruiting via the district website and TalentEd, hosting job fairs, negotiating wages through the city health department and union, and examining whether neighboring districts employ nurses directly through school departments. Committee Member Babcock recommended investigating whether DESE licensure is a practical barrier for recruiting and whether hiring nurses directly into the school payroll might improve retention; other members raised concerns that adding administrative steps could deter applicants.
Hart said the district is pursuing multiple short- and medium-term strategies: working with the city health department and union to adjust pay, using agency nurses for coverage when needed, hosting job fairs and posting positions on district and TalentEd sites, and engaging regional partners to allow med-delegation for certain over-the-counter medication administration. He reported the district is short approximately 12 nurses overall according to the public-health office but did not provide a precise vacancy count tied to a staffing baseline.
Goldboots asked specifically whether the lack of DESE licensing prevents field trips and screenings; Hart said the cancellations were a staffing-safety decision to avoid leaving large buildings without a nurse. He invited community members to refer potential nurses to the district for per diem or permanent work.
No formal action or vote was taken on the issue during the meeting; committee members directed staff to investigate comparative staffing models and to report back.
