Aug. 21--The state-mandated nurseto-student ratio has long been the target of the Pennsylvania Association of School Nurses.
The state Health Department requires that public schools employ at least one certified school nurse for every 1,500 students, double the federally recommended ratio of 1-to-750.
The association insists that the ratio, established in 1949, is out of touch with the increasingly complex health needs of a growing student population.
But trying to get the Legislature to change the ratio has never been successful, said Morgan Plant, association lobbyist.
School administrators and boards view such measures as unfunded mandates, she said, and have their lobbyists fight any effort in Harrisburg to change the law.
So the association is now taking a different approach, Plant said.
In March, it began pressing for a $10 million increase in the state budget to fund school health programs, hoping that more available money would translate into more nurses.
But neither the House nor Senate included the funding in the budget passed in June, Plant said.
"It's hard to put a price on a child's health and safety, but the legislative view is certainly different than ours," said association President Charity Istone of Pittsburgh.
Plant acknowledged that an increase in the budget wouldn't necessarily mean more nurses.
Even if the funds were earmarked for school health, districts wouldn't necessarily spend the money on additional nurse salaries.
As of 2006, there was an average of 865 students for each school nurse in Pennsylvania, which misses the federal guideline but beats the national average of one nurse for every 1,151 students, according to National Association of School Nurses.
That national group is pushing the U.S. House to authorize federal grants to states solely for the purpose of lowering the ratio in public schools.
"We'll both keep trying," Plant said. "Whatever we do, it at least raises awareness of the issue."
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