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School nurse urges board to preserve nursing staff amid budget pressure
Summary
A parent and school nurse told trustees that school nurses are essential to keeping students healthy and in class and urged the board not to treat health staff as an easy budget cut; she outlined attendance, outbreak prevention, chronic care and mental health reasons.
At the public forum, Valerie Stevens — a parent and a school nurse — urged the board to preserve nursing positions and warned that cutting nurses harms attendance, public health, care for students with chronic conditions, mental health supports and overall costs to the district.
"School nurses are not a luxury, they are a necessity," Stevens said, summarizing five reasons nurses should be protected during budget tightening: they keep students in class by triaging minor illness, prevent outbreaks by identifying contagious conditions, support chronic and complex medical needs, provide early mental‑health observation and intervention, and save money through prevention and reduced administrative burden.
Stevens invited trustees to visit a school nurse's office to observe the role and asked the board to consider those operational benefits when evaluating budget options. Board members thanked her for the presentation and said staff would follow up with additional information as needed.
