School board restores full nursing services to St. Stephen’s

WARWICK — After meeting with a group of concerned parents late last month, the Warwick Valley School Board changed its previous decision to reduce the hours of the school nurse at St. Stephen’s-St. Edward’s Catholic School.
Eileen Patterson, a member of the Warwick Village Board whose children attend St. Stephen’s, said there had been only a part-time nurse or nurse aide for many years, until about seven years ago, when parents looked up New York State Education Law and discovered a loophole: School districts that provide a full-time nurse to public schools in their district that have a smaller student body than a private school located within the same district must provide the same services to the private school.
Things became a bit uncertain, apparently, when Pine Island Elementary – the smallest school in the district at the time – closed nearly two years ago.

An off-hand comment

According to one district official, the controversy apparently arose from an off-hand comment by a state auditor, who wondered why the school district was providing a nurse to St. Stephen’s. (The comptroller’s office has denied making the comment.)
The auditor “left the impression that the district should not (be providing the nurse), because they are not required to,” the official said, and that the district would be penalized if it did.
Now that St. Stephen’s is the smallest school in the district, there was confusion whether the district needed to provide a full-time nurse.
Patterson said that she and a number of other concerned St. Stephen’s parents got together to look at the law, and found a passage (NYSED law section 912) that indicates the school district must provide nursing services.
The section on services to students reads:
“New York State law requires that the school district, upon request of parents, provide transportation; textbooks; computer software, library materials; dual enrollment programs to pupils attending nonpublic schools; and, upon request of the nonpublic school administrators, health services for pupils at the nonpublic school. The school district must provide services to pupils attending the nonpublic school unless and until such time as the program in the nonpublic school has been determined not to be equivalent to the program offered in the public school.”
Initially, those services were reduced simply to ear and eye check-ups, scoliosis screenings, immunization record-keeping and unspecified emergency services.

'The board listened'

According to Patterson, that would be insufficient: About 25 per cent of the St. Stephen’s kids have special health issues, including, “Type I diabetes; cardiac issues; seizure risks; and allergies that require an Epi-Pen.” Her own son has a “life-threatening” allergy to nuts.
Patterson said that a number of St. Stephen’s parents – including attorneys, a pediatrician, a diabetes educator, among others – came up with a “well-thought-out, well-spoken plan…(they were) not going to yell at the board.”
Patterson’s group – including the school principal, Mary Lou Moccia – addressed the school board on Aug. 21 to raise their concerns:
“We did a great job putting a team together,” and “the board listened.”
While the room was “packed” at the meeting, it was “not aggressive…not contentious.”
Patterson maintained that, while her group understood the fiscal constraints of the district and did not want to affect the budget – “that’s why we elect (the board)” – the health and safety of the kids should be paramount.
The school district’s attorney looked into the matter, and determined that the district could provide a nurse for three hours a day, with a trained nurse aide for the other three hours – meaning that, practically speaking, St. Stephen’s now has nursing services for the entire school day.
Both Patterson and the school board said that the decision was reached in a positive, constructive way, with no divisiveness.

Other business

The school board held its regular monthly meeting on Monday, concluding in record time, as it commended summer graduates from the high school; approved the consent agenda for the month of July; and heard from various board members about the activities of their respective committees.
Student liaison to the board of education and high school senior, Nora Petrucci, told the board that more than 50 juniors and seniors helped at last week’s freshman orientation, in order to help prepare incoming students adjust to life in high school. She added that seniors are planning for a busy year, as they get ready for Homecoming, begin AP course work, anticipate College Board testing and “all that good stuff.”
The next regular board of education meeting will be held Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. in Sanfordville Elementary School.