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Frazzled Nurses, Tardy Buses Push School Board To Act

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By MARILYN BROWN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 3, 2007

TAMPA - Concerns over student safety and getting children to school on time pushed Hillsborough County School Board members to take control Tuesday, struggling to solve problems usually left to district staff.

The board directed Superintendent MaryEllen Elia to put together a group of nurses and other health care workers in schools to define school health needs after staff cuts and the end of a program that allowed students to get over-the-counter medications in school.

School board member Candy Olson said the district needs to get a grip on student health care.

"There's a difference between getting a grip and - for lack of a better word - a machete method," she said.

She called for the work group to analyze and make suggestions for student health care needs after weeks of complaints from nurses that students are in danger because clinics are staffed so thin.

Olson also proposed giving Elia authority to open some middle schools 15 minutes later if necessary to make up for the lateness of school buses. The board's directive came after a Riverview father told board members his daughter's bus has been at least 20 minutes late every day at Giunta Middle School. John Franklin, the district's transportation chief, said he had no solution.

"If the transportation people can't fix it, we have to fix it by changing the bell times," Olson said.

The changes in school clinics this school year have become a personal issue to several board members. Parents are no longer allowed to give written permission for their children to take over-the-counter medications. A doctors' prescription is required for medicines such as Tylenol and aspirin. Students who bring over-the-counter medications to school violate the no-tolerance drug policy.

Parents Forced To Break Drug Rules

Board Member April Griffin said she was suspended from high school for violating a similar policy and her 16-year-old son could be next.

"The reason I send my son to school with medications is because he inherited sinus problems from me," Griffin said. She said she sends him to school with Sudafed in his backpack, telling him, 'Go to the bathroom and don't let anybody see you taking this.'"

"I have broken the rules," Griffin said. "I'm not satisfied with the policy as it exists."

School board Attorney Tom Gonzales said there is no legal basis for the policy requiring a doctor's prescription for an over-the-counter drug.

"Where's this edict coming from?" board member Jennifer Faliero asked, just one of the questions about the district's staffing of clinics and procedures that were unanswered.

School nurses said they are the only registered nurses for up to seven or eight schools this year compared with three or four in the past. They supervise a licensed practical nurse or health assistant at each school. Some registered nurses have an entire high school alone.

Elia insisted that, "At this time we have a person identified at every school site," and that there are 28 registered nurses with no assigned school themselves to oversee most of the schools where there is a licensed practical nurse or health assistant. Some have not yet started work and the district's assignment list is constantly changing.

Board member Susan Valdes called the 80-hour course assistants must take "a crash course. This is not keeping the safety of our students in mind." She said she also is concerned that a nurse must often deal with crisis at several schools at once.

Board members agreed they never discussed their philosophy of student health services to provide any direction and will do so at a future workshop.

Late Buses, Tardy Students

Another ongoing parent concern - late buses - was brought to the board by Michael Lawrence, who said that when his eighth-grade daughter gets to school 20 minutes late every day, she is one of only four of five in her math class because of so many late buses. It's 45 minutes into class before they are all there, he said.

"This situation is so bad, they moved homeroom to third period to take attendance," Lawrence said. "How do teachers grade children who are not in class?"

The principal rotated first period classes with two later subjects so students don't miss the same class every day, said Lawrence. He also said no one in transportation returned his calls.

The district is trying a pilot program in south Hillsborough County this school year that was supposed to end late buses, save money and require fewer drivers. It requires many students to walk farther to bus stops and changed opening and closing times of more than 100 schools.

Franklin, who started as transportation chief in June, said late buses continue, especially in middle schools which start later than high schools and elementary schools. He called the foundation for the new plan "very solid" but said the district needs another 120 drivers to make it work.

"Vacancies have caused unintended consequences in late buses," he said, although the district has long experienced driver shortage.

Elia said she will begin analyzing schedules of middle schools with chronically late buses today and plans to have a solution "very soon."

The board also:

•Approved the appointment of Ron Dailey to supervisor of assessment. •Heard appeals from four speakers to name a new elementary school in south Hillsborough opening in August in Valencia Lakes for former School board member and retired educator Doris Ross Reddick. The board will name the school at a later meeting.

Reporter Marilyn Brown can be reached at (813) 159-8069 or mbrown@tampatrib.com.

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