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Board hears exploratory discussion on hiring a school nurse and funding options
Summary
Superintendent raised a proposal to pursue a school nurse for Columbus Elem, described prior half-time partnerships, possible funding paths (building reserve fund transfers, permissive levy, hospital partnership), and asked the board to direct next steps; members recommended gathering data and exploring partnerships and privacy safeguards.
Superintendent (S2) asked the board for direction on exploring a school nurse position, citing a prior half-time partnership with Madison Valley Medical Center that later expanded to a full-time role in his previous district. S2 said the district serves nearly 800 students and that school staff are not trained medical professionals for clinical tasks; he recommended exploring funding mechanisms including building reserve fund transfers for school-safety purposes, a permissive levy next year, or a cost-share partnership with a local hospital or clinic.
Board members urged compiling data to justify any funding request. S5 offered to connect the superintendent to a former school nurse at Stillwater Billings Clinic to help develop statistics and a written case for stakeholders. Several participants cautioned about privacy limits when collecting student medical information and emphasized the need to present anonymized counts (for example, number of diabetic students) rather than names.
S2 provided a sample memorandum of understanding (MOU) in the meeting packet and said he would return with more education, options and timing; the board did not take formal action but signaled support for further study and community education before pursuing a levy or staffing change.
