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Albany district outlines FACT team, nursing workloads and rising needs for homeless and medically fragile students
Summary
Health Services Coordinator Marivi Wright told the board the district's FACT team and nurses handled hundreds of referrals last year and are exploring expanded Medicaid billing to support medical services in schools.
Marivi Wright, the district's Health Services Coordinator, told the Greater Albany Public School District 8J board the FACT (Family and Community Together) team and school nurses supported thousands of students last year and face growing demand for services.
Wright said the FACT team identified 545 McKinney-Vento (homeless) students and 72 students in foster care in the 2023-24 school year, completed 465 home visits and connected more than 410 students to clothing, food, school supplies, housing assistance and other services. The FACT team made 389 mental-health referrals and 119 attendance referrals last year, Wright said. This school year to date she reported about 300 McKinney-Vento identifications, 65 foster-care students and 206 mental-health referrals.
Wright described the nursing team's workload: last year nurses managed 471 students with individual health plans, conducted more than 6,000 vision screenings and certified 271 staff in CPR/first aid. This year the district has 461 students with health plans and had certified 468 staff in CPR by the reporting date. Wright said the district's nurse-to-student ratio is roughly one nurse per 1,500 students, while recommended ratios are nearer one per 750.
Wright said FACT and nurses provide many nonacademic supports required by law, including McKinney-Vento and foster care enrollment assistance, health-care navigation, on-site immunizations in partnership with Linn County Public Health, and coordination with community providers. "We provide McKinney-Vento and foster care support...we link families to community partners that can support them," she said.
On funding, Wright said the district currently bills Medicaid for services that are documented in students' IEPs and is exploring expanding billing to other billable health activities. "Billing is gonna bring us more funding," she said, adding the district is consulting the business office and its Medicaid billing lead to determine feasibility and necessary staffing.
Board members asked how much the district already bills Medicaid and whether community care organizations (CCOs) are engaged. Wright said mental-health clinicians in schools bill insurers and that the district is investigating broader billing procedures. She recommended piloting billing for a small set of nurses or services before wider rollout.
The presentation noted FACT's school-supply giveaways, partnerships (including Jackson Street Youth Services and Linn County Public Health), and collaboration with DHS/caseworkers on documentation and transportation for foster-care students. Wright said FACT has created readiness checklists for older foster-care students and is working with local dependency work groups and CASA to improve supports and documentation.
Board members thanked Wright and district staff for the report and asked for follow-up on billing options and potential budget implications. No formal action was taken at the meeting; Wright's presentation was given for board information and future planning.
