SC officials want a full-time nurse in every school when classes resume in the fall

A task force of S.C. educators wants to place a full-time nurse in every school once classes resume in the fall.

The recommendations are the latest from AccelerateEd, a task force convened by S.C Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman with the goal of providing recommendations for K-12 schools reopening in the fall.

Statewide, at least 123 schools have no nurses at all and 75 have only part-time nurses, S.C. Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman said during the meeting.

“Just important as having a resource officer in a school, every school needs a full-time nurse,” Spearman said.

The cost of nurse salaries, fringe benefits, etc. would be around $60,000 per position, meaning the full cost of having a nurse in every school could cost between $10 million to $15 million, said Education Department spokesman Ryan Brown.

There may be more schools without a nurse, as some districts have yet to report their number of nurses, Brown noted.

Having nurses in schools does more than just prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, said Alan Walters, a task force member who works as a top administrator in the Georgetown County School District.

“The main challenge in reopening for summer programs is the same we’re going to have in the fall and that is parents, students and staff feeling it’s safe to come back to school,” Walters said.

The idea of putting a nurse in every K-12 school — for now — is a temporary response to coronavirus, as making the policy permanent would require recurring funding, Walters said.

Walters also proposed placing a “mental health response team” in every school to respond to students who may have experienced trauma during the COVID-19 quarantine or who may have special needs.

Those mental health teams could include school counselors, teachers, outside therapists, administrators and more, Walters said.

“This is going to be an ongoing need that needs to be addressed,” Walters said.

Spearman has said the task force’s recommendations — which will look more like a “menu” of options than a one-size-fits-all mandate — could be ready as early as June 1, according to a previous article from The State.

One of the key challenges for the task force has been figuring out how to get students to and from school. In order to socially distance by six feet on a school bus, the bus would only be able to carry 17 percent of its usual capacity, according to a previous article from The State.

Another challenge has been figuring out how to keep large numbers of students out of common areas such as hallways and cafeterias. To address that, the task force has considered having students eat lunch in their classrooms, staggering recess or having teachers switch classrooms instead of students.

Whatever changes the state — and the districts — decide on, the chances of school looking different in the fall and possibly after that is high, officials said.

“Now, more than ever, people are open to different ideas that are being thrown out there,” Brown said.