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Committee discusses adding school nurses to unencumbered-time policy, flags emergency exceptions
Summary
The committee reviewed changes to policy GCLE and administrative rule GCLE-R to add school nurses to the district's unencumbered-time protections, discussed a 30-minute protected period and confirmed that nurses must respond to medical emergencies that interrupt that time.
At the March 17, 2026 Admin and Audit Committee meeting, members discussed proposed updates to the district's unencumbered-time policy (GCLE) and related administrative rule (GCLE-R) to explicitly include school nurses alongside teachers.
Emma Brant, the paralegal presenting the changes, said the policy text was revised to add school nurses and that legal references were updated to cite a temporary South Carolina budget proviso (1.105) that includes school nurses. "We just needed to add school nurses to the existing policy," she said. The presenters said the administrative rule was likewise updated to reflect the policy change.
Committee members pressed whether the policy should allow increased protected time in high-needs schools rather than only permitting reductions for emergencies; presenters said they would review how much scheduled unencumbered time is currently interrupted in high-needs areas and consider adjustments. Presenters described the policy's intent as protecting a 30-minute period of unencumbered time for instructional staff, while acknowledging that medical emergencies require nurses to respond and therefore override that protected period.
No formal vote was taken; the committee discussed the updates as information and agreed to move the revised policy and rule forward to the board for consideration at a later date.
