The Shadow
The Covington City School Board heard concerns Wednesday about the future of the school nurse program.
During the meeting, Autumn Anderson, school nurse for Edgemont Primary School and Jeter-Watson Intermediate School, addressed the school board over concerns on the state of the school nursing program.
Joining Anderson was a contingent of school nursing personnel from Covington City Public Schools and Alleghany County Public Schools.
Melinda Snead-Johnson, superintendent of Covington schools, said the nursing program originally started with financial support from The Alleghany Foundation.
The foundation has since gradually decreased its funding, leaving the two school divisions with finding money to keep the nursing program going.
“The foundation came up with a formula, they do 50 percent of the funding for the school nursing program in both school divisions. They also notified us two years ago that in 2020-2021, the schools would be responsible for funding the school nursing programs and that funding would no longer be available,”?Snead-Johnson said.
Anderson stated that she has been a nurse in the school system since 2016.
“The August of my first year, our very first school meeting with the nurses was when I was notified personally that The Alleghany Foundation would no longer be funding the nursing program,”?Anderson said.
Anderson also stated that she communicated with several school officials and personnel during her tenure and while she said she and her fellow nurses have support, there is no clear answer on what to do in regard to future funding.
Anderson said she conducted her own research and looked at two years of budgets and did not see one thing about funding for the school nursing program.
Anderson then touched on misconceptions people have of school nurses.
Anderson said, “You kind of feel like we just fix boo-boos, but we do so much more.”
“Just in my two years, I?have been a part of events I’ve never had to be a part of outside of school nursing,” she said.
An example of this is when Anderson mentioned that she saw her first compound fracture while working as a school nurse, citing she never saw one in five years of prior emergency room work.
Anderson also said that she and her fellow school nurses check for several things in relation to a child’s health such as vision/hearing, scoliosis, height/weight, among other things the primary physicians would examine.
Anderson talked about the importance of school nurses checking on these issues by telling the school board, “What you need to keep in mind, a large population of the students in our area do not have primary care physicians. They’re not followed by any health care provider other than the nurses employed through the city or the county.”
Emphasizing the importance of school nurses taking care of the students, Anderson said that if there were no way to help provide nursing for the schools, the injustice would be toward the children, not the adults.
Anderson then cited a study that showed the cost-benefit of school health services delivered.
Anderson said that study followed the Massachusetts Essential School Heath Services Program (ESHS) school nursing program during the 2009-2010 school year.
The program, which operated at a cost of $79 million, prevented an estimated $20 million in medical care costs, $28.1 million in parents’ productivity loss (time off work, etc.) and $129.1 million in teachers’ productivity loss (time off work, etc.).
Anderson also said that the program generated a net benefit of $98.2 million to society, which meant that every $1 invested in the program, would allow society to gain $2.20.
Later in the meeting after Anderson had concluded her presentation, an employee of Edgemont Primary School who has a child that attends the school stated her belief in the importance of Anderson and her fellow nurses.
The employee credited Anderson with saving their child’s life during a medical episode earlier in the school year.
The employee also said, “My child has had a few issues since the initial medical episode, but anytime something is wrong, Autumn [Anderson] is the first one there.”
Following this individual’s comments, Covington City School Board Vice Chairman Bert Baker promised that he and his fellow school board members would research and dig to find any and every way possible to have a solution for this situation.
Baker’s fellow school board member Erika Hun-ter doubled down on the school board’s efforts by stating, “I’ll be your spokesperson. I’ll talk to whoever I?need to. I’ll ask questions to whoever I?need to. This is too important.”
The following individuals were recognized during the recognitions/delegations portion of the meeting:
— Autumn Anderson, nurse at Edgemont Primary School/Jeter-Watson Inter-mediate School, was recognized for her life-saving efforts of an Edgemont Primary School student earlier this year;
— Charity Hale, Coving-ton High School athletic director, was recognized for her life-saving efforts of a fan attending a home football game earlier this season;
— Pete Moore, Covington City Public Schools bus driver, for helping students with their self-esteem and staying positive in times of stress.
The school board approved the following items in new business:
— An overnight field trip for the CHS?varsity girls’ basketball team to Williamsburg from Friday, Nov. 16, through Saturday, Nov. 17, for team building and to attend a college basketball game.
The Covington City School Board approved the following personnel changes during closed session:
— Resignations:?Morrisa Wright, part-time school bus driver;
— Appointments:?Aimee Durrman, Kaylie Farist, Steven Huffman (substitute teachers); Melvin Persinger (volunteer coach — CHS junior varsity girls basketball).
