St. Louis Schools Watch by Susan Turk
By Cara | October 5, 2009
School Nurses RIF’ed
By Susan Turk
September 30, 2009–St. Louis–The much maligned Roberti administration, renowned for its bean counting, did not have the gall to do this. Today was the last day of employment for 15 SLPS school nurses. Fourteen of the positions were “Reductions in Force” and one was labeled “attrition”. Adding these to the 6 unfilled nursing positions at the end of the last school year, the district is left with only 50 nurses on staff for 75 schools. What this means is that only one third of our schools will have a full time nurse. The remainder will share nurses. These cuts in school nurse staffing are unprecedented.
The affected nurses received notice from former Human Resources Director Sharonica Hardin in August, before the start of school, that September 30 would be their last day. The decision apparently came from Superintendent. Kelvin Adams as a cost cutting measure. The SAB approved the cuts in this year’s budget.
As a result of the morale boosting news, some the RIF’ed nurses never reported for duty. They either took accumulated PTO days or found other jobs, which generally pay 40% more than SLPS salaries anyway. The remaining nursing staff have tried to adjust but have been overwhelmed in light of the H1N1 pandemic. Some schools are seeing as much as 12 to 15% of their student body out sick, others are reported to have higher rates of absentees. Nurses report their offices full of students with fevers, vomiting, and other flu symptoms. Adding this to their regular duties for the many disabled and chronically ill students who are mainstreamed in our schools, the remaining nurses are stretched beyond their limits. Concern has been expressed among some remaining nursing staff that there is a need for a full time nurse in every school building. The current level of staffing cannot ensure a safe and healthy school environment.
Aside from evaluating sick children and contacting parents to come pick them up and take them home, nurses are required to assess returning students who have been absent because of illness before they can re-enter their classrooms. In the past, this has been done in person. Now, these evaluations may have to be done over the phone when the nurse is in her other building. As many as three to four children each day are in need of being sent home while another 3-4 return and require evaluation for re-entry into school. Not having the nurse in the building to make these decisions will mean more students and staff exposed to flu and other illnesses.
Contacting parents to come pick up their sick children is a time consuming chore for the nurses. One parent left five phone numbers with the school. None of them were effective. Unable to reach the parent, the nurse had to keep the sick child in her office all day, exposing everyone who entered to her flu symptoms. The nurse sent a note home with the child at the end of the day informing the parent that if she did not stop sending her sick child to school to infect other students and that if she did not provide the school with an effective phone number for reaching her, that she would be reported to the Department of Family Services for child endangerment. The parent contacted the school the next day and provided a working phone number.
Short staffing the nurses during an epidemic is flat out dangerous. The school nurses are the first line of defense for preventing the spread of pathogens. It boggles the mind that the administration would jeopardize the health of students and staff by cutting the nurses at this time.
Even without the flu epidemic, for which school nurses have been planning since last spring, providing for the day to day basic care requirements for students in many schools is challenging. Students have seizures, asthma attacks and require monitoring for chronic ailments. There are students on dialysis. Some are diabetic. There is an unfortunate high rate of pregnancy among middle and high school students. Roosevelt HS alone had 52 pregnant students last year. In one elementary school a fifth grader was pregnant. When a student goes into labor, the school nurse is the first to assist her. There are presently 84 pregnant students in district schools and that number will unfortunately increase as the school year progresses. According to district policy, there is supposed to be a full time nurse in every school where there is a pregnant student. That policy is no longer being followed. When pregnant students were secluded in their own continuing education program, one nurse sufficed. But since the closure of the Meda P. Washington building which housed that program, pregnant students are now dispersed throughout the district. As a result of these staffing cuts, only 5 high schools will have a full time nurse, Roosevelt, Gateway, Nottingham, Soldan and Miller. Pregnant students in other high schools are out of luck.
Gallaudet, all of whose students have special needs, has always had a full time nurse until now. This round of cuts has left them sharing a nurse. Board of Education (the elected board) policy requires a staffing ratio of one full time nurse to every 500 elementary school students, 400 middle school students and 1000 high school students. It also requires a full time nurse in every school with special education classrooms and handicapped students. The appointed Special Administrative Board is abandoning this policy.
Nurses are the only staff who can administer injected medication. Other staff can be trained by the nurse to administer oral medication and or inhalers. Type I diabetics who are required to take an insulin shot at school must see the nurse. Nurses also supervise these students checking their blood sugar. This involves time before breakfast and lunch. If there are diabetic students in both of the schools to which a nurse is assigned, their well-being will be put in jeopardy.
There are more than 200 students enrolled in the SLPS who suffer from life threatening food allergies. Each school is equipped with syringes that deliver a dose of epinephrine, which can block an allergic reaction. It must be administered immediately if a child begins to show signs of an allergic reaction to prevent a full blown life threatening attack. Of district staff, only nurses can administer the shot.
And of course the nurses administer first aid to students and staff suffering from injuries after fights or accidents, whether it’s a concussion, puncture wound, fracture or an abrasion.
Nurses also monitor and assist sick staff members. With the flu epidemic, nurses have been determining when a teacher has a fever and should be sent home. Nurses inform principals of the need to call for a substitute teacher. Nurses have aided diabetic staff members experiencing insulin shock and blood pressure problems.
At the beginning of the school year, the nurses evaluate their schools for hazards. They also evaluate the health care needs of their students and staff. When they share assignments to more than one school, they determine whether they will be in a building for a full day or whether they will have to travel between buildings to be in both for part of each day. Ideally they remain in one building for the entire day, but the needs of the students in their care sometimes require them to travel, during which time neither building has a nurse in residence.
Then there’s the paper work. Nurses are required to make weekly reports to the City Board of Health on the health status of students and staff in their schools. They also must meet federal reporting requirements for all disabled students. In some cases the added stress of a doubled work load has taken a toll on their health. Substitutes used to be hired to replace a nurse who was out sick. That practice has been eliminated. Other nurses must now cover for those who are absent, compounding their stress and diminishing their availability at the schools to which they are normally assigned. In the words of one of the nurses, “These decisions downtown are putting 26,000 children at risk.” Given that this is happening during the H1N1 pandemic, it is especially ill-advised.
You may read the relevant Board of Education policy regarding the provision of health services at
http://sab.slps.org/Board_Education/policies/6164.1.htm
It was last revised on September 10, 2002. The SAB may believe that that they are not bound by the policy. But is it worth noting that no elected board governing this district dared to cut health services to the bone.
SAB Testing the Waters: May Float Bond Issue
Sept. 21, 2009–St. Louis–The last item on the Consent Agenda from the SAB’s September 10 meeting was the approval of, “a contract with Dr. Charlene Jones to develop, coordinate and supervise all SLPS activities regarding potential issues for the April 16, 2010 ballot for the period July 1, 2009 through April 30, 2010 in an amount not to exceed $60,000.”
Dr. Jones retired from the SLPS at the end of 2008 after more than 20 years of dedicated service during which time she coordinated several bond issue campaigns, all of them successful.
A focus group of SLPS parents was held at Harris-Stowe University on Tuesday, September 15. Both SAB member Richard Gaines, who is chairing this effort, and Dr. Jones attended. The actual running of the focus group, was out-sourced to former SLPS Public Information Director Johnny Little’s consulting firm. It’s always nice to see the district out-sourcing work to former employees. The district is lucky they are available when needed.
The focus group was attended by only 6 parents. Parents who attended speculated that attendance was low because there was confusion over the location of the meeting since the name of the building in which it was located had changed. Also, there was at most only a week’s notice for the meeting. Some who attended received phone calls or letters only a few days before. One parent had been invited by school staff and then was subsequently told her presence was not needed.
From the questions parents were asked, it is apparent that the SAB is considering floating a bond issue to cover the cost of building and grounds maintenance. If the bond issue, which requires 57.1% approval by the voters, is passed, it would free up at least $21 million from the General Operating Budget for other expenditures.
Aside from the fact that the date of the April election was mis-typed in the consent agenda; it’s April 6; the Watch wonders if the SAB realizes that scheduling the ballot measure for April will require them to cover the cost of two elections in 2010? There will not be a school board election in April. The Slay controlled Board of Education had the legislation passed in 2005 which switched the school board elections scheduled during even years to November. They allegedly did this to save the district money. School board elections normally took place when municipal elections are held so they shared the cost of the election with the city, which elects aldermen and mayors in odd years. However, the school board was downsized from 12 to 7 as part of the 1998 legislation authored by SAB Member Richard Gaines, which enabled the desegregation case to be settled in 1999. Board terms were also shortened to 4 years from 6. When there were 12 members serving 6 year terms, their elections were staggered so that 4 members were elected every 2 years. To stagger the election of the 7 member board, one of the elections was moved to even years.
Municipal elections cost between $150,000 and $200,000. November general elections cost about $400,000. Granted the district will share the cost of the general election with the state and federal government but it will still be charged for a third of the cost. Burying a school board election on the November ballot where it will have to fight for attention with congressional and senatorial elections will most likely result in its getting less of a voter’s attention. Since more people vote in the November federal and state elections than do in the April municipal elections, it will also be more expensive for school board candidates to reach those voters. But the main problem for the district next year will be finding the extra money to pay for both elections. The SAB approved the expenditure of $8,440,000 for lead abatement at their September 22 meeting admitting that they had no idea how they were going to pay for it and as previously noted in this edition, they are laying off nurses.
But, if the ballot issue is successful, it would free up $21 million annually from the GOB for other purposes. The question is will it succeed? The political climate has changed since the district last sought a bond issue during the administration of Superintendent Cleveland Hammonds. The onset of charter schools has divided the constituency for public education in the City of St. Louis. With nearly 10,000 children now attending charter schools, their parents may not feel a need to vote for a bond issue which does not benefit their childrens’ schools.
Moreover, victory requires 57.1% of the voters’ approval. That is the reason for the focus groups. One of the questions asked concerned lead abatement. While the emphasis appears to be on maintenance of buildings and grounds, the focus groups may result in the addition of other issues for funding, if they would increase the likelihood of passage.
There had been speculation that money from the bond issue would include construction funds for the 2 new schools recommended by the MGT facilities study earlier this year. Community resistance to the closing and replacement of 3 historic school buildings on the south side would make that controversial and could doom the ballot initiative. Limiting it to maintenance issues and perhaps lead abatement would avoid controversy. The final wording should be available in early 2010.
Still, the last bond issue was for air conditioning. There was anger in the community when schools which were air conditioned with that money were subsequently closed or sold. Voters who support the SLPS may be hesitate to support another bond issue unless there is some guarantee that school buildings will remain open and not be sold to charter schools.
Dr. Jones’ expertise will be fully utilized trying to get this passed. But with her track record, it has a chance.
Money Not So Well Spent
With the recent resignations of State Rep T. D. El-Amin and State Senator Jeff Smith, one extraordinarily deep-pocketed campaign donor may be feeling some remorse about the politicians in whom he invested.
Both Smith and El-Amin benefited from the generosity of billionaire school choice supporter Rex Sinquefield. Smith received $10,000 and El-Amin $40,000 from Sinquefield’s PAC’s. It is indeed unfortunate that Dr. Sinquefield had to rely on corrupt individuals to further his agenda.
The statement below was to be delivered by SLPS representatives to the City of St. Louis TIF Commission for their September 23 meeting regarding the northside development project.
The St. Louis Public School District , the Special Administrative Board and its appointees to the City of St. Louis Tax Increment Financing Commission fully recognize the importance of major economic development projects, including the proposal being discussed today, to the future of the City and the entire St. Louis region. We know that projects of this magnitude stimulate the local economy during development and after completion.
This project, specifically, will require a significant investment in public infrastructure – streets, sidewalks, sewer, water and school buildings. Renovated or newly constructed school buildings will be a necessary part of the public infrastructure investment for this project. This project will attract new families to the area, and their children will need schools. For this reason, the St. Louis Public Schools , the Special Administrative Board and its appointees to the City of St. Louis Tax Increment Financing Commission encourage this commission to fully support the use of infrastructure funds within the TIF Zone for renovation or new construction of St. Louis Public School District facilities. We encourage this Commission to recommend that an agreement between the St. Louis Public Schools and the developer for new construction or substantial renovation of school buildings be a part of the Commission’s final project plan before it is submitted to the Board of Aldermen for approval.
Calendar
October 5, Monday, MSIP Review Findings Report, 10 a.m., Administration Building, 801 North 11th Street, room 108 October 8, Thursday, regular bi-monthly SAB meeting, 6 p.m., 801 North 11th St. room 108 October 13 , Tuesday, regular monthly of the Board of Education, 7 p.m., Carr Lane VPA Middle School, 1004 N. Jefferson Avenue, Dance Studio October 22, Thursday, regular bi-monthly SAB meeting, 6 p.m., 801 North 11th St. room 108
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