Sumner County Schools outlines homebound, Section 504, screenings and emergency-response work

Sumner County Schools officials described a range of health services and recent changes Tuesday as they sought to show how the district supports students who require medical or disability-related services.

The presentation covered medical homebound instruction, Section 504 accommodations, vision and hearing screenings, an activity bus for physical-education equipment, nurse staffing and an expanded districtwide CPR/AED program.

Brandy, the 504 and homebound supervisor for Sumner County Schools, told the school board, “Medical Homebound is a temporary service and placement that's designed for students who would need need to miss 10 or more days of school because of a medical necessity,” and said homebound instruction includes at least three hours per week of direct instruction from a certified teacher. Brandy said the district is serving roughly 20–23 students currently through homebound supports; she also cited 2024–25-year data showing about 61 general-education students and roughly 35 students with active IEPs received homebound services that year.

Brandy described a streamlined referral process intended to reduce the time between a parent request and service start. School nurses collect the referral packet and then can forward it directly to the homebound team’s email. “Once the decision's been made for placement and duration then the homebound team reaches out to the parent and shares hey this is the decision we've come to,” Brandy said, describing a review team she established that includes a nursing supervisor, general-education and special-education teachers and a representative from instruction.

On Section 504, Brandy said the district currently supports about 1,900 students with active 504 plans for conditions ranging from anxiety and ADHD to gastrointestinal issues. She said the district has designated a Section 504 designee in every building and cited compliance figures of about 97–98 percent on plan dates and paperwork: “We're on pretty solid around 97 to 98 right now,” she said.

Kayla Alexander, Health Services Education Supervisor and the district’s coordinated school health supervisor, described changes to the district’s vision-referral follow-up process after staff observed repeated screening failures. Kayla said last year her team screened more than 5,700 students for vision, hearing and color vision and that of 843 students who failed vision screening last year the district’s nurses “100 percent closed the loop on that referral process” by contacting families and tracking follow-up care.

Kayla also described an “activity bus” stocked with PE equipment that the district launched to increase access to physical activity and equipment. She said the bus has been to 43 schools and community events; PE teachers surveyed after uses reported 92 percent said students learned a new game or activity they otherwise would not have.

Nursing supervisors provided operational data and described a district nursing staff of 55 nurses working in clinics across Sumner County. Jennifer Donaldson, a nursing supervisor, told the board the department recorded 229,686 clinic visits across the district’s clinics last year and 182 EMS calls for medical emergencies. She also cited a current district nurse-to-student ratio of about 1 nurse per 545 students, below the National Association of School Nurses recommended 1:750 ratio.

Meg McMahan, a nursing supervisor who co-authored a statewide acuity tool with the Tennessee State School Nurse Consultant, explained that the district’s acuity tool quantifies complex procedures and nursing workload. She said use of the tool showed one school’s score that justified assigning a second nurse; that second nurse remains staffed at Station Camp Elementary.

School safety and emergency preparedness also featured prominently. The district reported 218 AEDs located across campuses and athletic facilities and said it implemented a portable AED program to cover athletic teams off campus. The district’s training push has increased CPR coverage: officials said they trained more than 1,200 staff in various CPR courses last year and had already trained about 650 staff this school year. A pilot at Hendersonville High School certified 86 students in CPR during its first rollout.

Ashley Harris, a nursing supervisor, recognized Gallatin High School nurse Teresa Kingery for performing high-quality CPR and using an AED earlier this year to revive an employee. Ashley told the board, “Teresa promptly responded... she immediately applied the pads to the employee's chest and began performing chest compressions,” and said the person was awake and talking by the time EMS arrived after three AED shocks and seven minutes of CPR.

Board members asked about timelines and procedures. In response to a question about homebound startup time, Brandy said that once paperwork is received the district generally begins supports within four to five days and identified physician responsiveness as the most frequent barrier to faster starts. On parental preparation for Section 504 meetings, Brandy said a designee has 10 days to reach out to parents and that the district provides a Section 504 guidelines handout; she said staff are exploring FAQ sheets, video guides and school-level trainings to help families.

Clinic staff noted the breadth of nurse work beyond emergencies: nurses deliver chronic-disease education, perform routine visits and identify previously undiagnosed conditions. Emma White, a nursing supervisor, said nurses’ assessments last year led to 85 new chronic-disease diagnoses that prompted referral and follow-up, including mental-health disorders, epilepsy and, in one case, a diagnosis that led to identification of a solid-tumor cancer after a nurse referral.

Board members praised the collaboration across departments and community partners named in the presentation, including Ball State’s Access Center for postsecondary accommodations and High Point Health for funding the activity-bus wrap. Officials said the coordinated approach aims to return homebound students to their classrooms as soon as medically appropriate and to support transitions for seniors seeking accommodations after graduation.

The board did not take formal action on the presentation; staff said they would continue expanding parent resources and training and bring any policy changes back through the policy-readings process.