ST. LOUIS, MO (KMOX) - The Parkway School District says it will have a nurse at every building when classes resume. Officials there tell KMOX News, those nurses will be the lead contact tracer for any COVID-19 cases.
Not every district will have that level of staffing.
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Missouri doesn't require nursing services in schools. The Missouri Association of School Nurses says most districts -- especially in larger urban areas -- do employ a nursing staff. But sometimes one person is responsible for multiple buildings.
Nationwide, the latest survey reveals at least a quarter of all schools don't employ a school nurse at all. Laurie Combe, President of the National Association of School nurses tells KMOX a lack of professional nursing staff on duty could lead to students being misdiagnosed for COVID symptoms.
One district in the region hopes to have enough nurses on the payroll before they return to in-class instruction. Deputy Superintendent for St. Louis Public Schools tells KMOX they intend to have a nurse at every school. Dr. Michael Brown says the challenge is a shortage of nurses and higher demand in many health care settings during the pandemic.
The union representing teachers has expressed concerns about having one nurse cover multiple buildings. Brown says there may be cases where a single nurse would have to split duties between two smaller, geographically close, school buildings.
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