LETTER: Warren school staff urges district to keep nurses, cut elsewhere
March 25, 2025Editor’s Note: Warren Elementary teacher Drew Adamczyk read and submitted the following letter to the Harwood Unified Union School District School board at its March 19 meeting. The copy given to the board was signed by all members of the Warren school staff.
Warren School aerial view. Photo by Max Ygurra
To the Harwood community,
The staff at the Warren School is extremely concerned about the proposed cuts to services and positions and the negative impact they will have on student learning and safety. In particular, reducing our nursing position from full-time to part-time coverage directly risks student health and is highly concerning to our staff and families.
Simply put -- teachers are trained to teach, not to provide medical care.
When students are feeling unwell, research suggests that the experience and expertise of a trained nurse like Deirdre Fennelly is often the difference between a student getting help and returning to class or simply being sent home.
A significant number of the students at Warren have or have had medical concerns, including allergies, diabetes, or other potentially life-threatening issues. In the event of a serious medical emergency, a trained nurse in the building means that our school can provide help immediately. Without a nurse present, decisions need to be made by untrained staff while they wait for emergency services to arrive -- and hope there isn't another concern elsewhere drawing their attention.
Teachers, parents, and students should not have to worry about a student who needs medical care waiting for an expert to deliver it when a trained, full-time nurse could intervene directly.
Beyond the usual daily ailments that our students bring to her office, our school nurse Deirdre:
Administers prescription medications, and oversees pediatrician-originated health plans.
Helps students overcome repeated medical and social-emotional challenges that would otherwise be an impediment to accessing learning.
Is the lead school-based responder to medical emergencies in our rural setting far from emergency rooms or urgent care facilities.
This year district-wide, 95% of visits and check-ins result in a student returning to class. Studies show that without a nurse in the building, 11-15% of students are sent home when they report feeling unwell.
As a staff, we understand the need to fund our schools using the budget passed by our community. However, other programs and areas must be cut before limiting the vital work of our nursing staff. Specifically, we would like the district to evaluate the millions of dollars spent on contracts with Green Mountain Behavioral Services for behavioral intervention services that could be achieved with more fidelity by hiring in-house paraeducators. Hiring two paraeducators to cover our student needs and canceling our contract with GMBS would save around $50k which would certainly offset the cost of keeping our nursing position full-time.
We urge the Harwood Unified Union School District to pursue every other avenue of cost savings instead of taking an action that directly and negatively affects student health.
Sincerely,
