Parents, nurses oppose Anchorage School District nursing model proposal

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - School nurses and parents are raising concerns about a proposed nursing model for the Anchorage School District where they would assign 9–11 nurses to regions including 12-14 school buildings each, rather than having at least one nurse at individual schools at all times.

The switch would allow ASD to cut 25 nurse positions, saving costs as they grapple with a $90 million budget deficit. The district says the model would “align nursing coverage with student medical needs (acuity) while maintaining safety, responsiveness and long-term sustainability.”

Parents of children with chronic health conditions said the changes could put their children’s safety at risk.

“Teaching can’t happen without safety. Safety first,” said Jennifer Allison, an ASD parent and licensed nurse whose daughter Sky requires continuous care for a congenital heart condition.

Sky has had four open-heart surgeries and four stomach surgeries, while still meeting with specialists in the lower 48 every six months. She is one of many students across the district who require ongoing medical attention at school.

“Sky’s school team has been, like, mission critical to her success,” Allison said.

Parents worry about life-threatening situations

Anne-Marie Moran’s son is antibody positive for Type 1 diabetes, meaning he will likely be diagnosed very soon, she said.

“Once my son is diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, he will require continuous life-sustaining care at school,” Moran said.

Moran said that would require “continuous blood sugar monitoring, precise insulin dosing and frequent rapid intervention. There is no ‘set it and forget it’ treatment; even short lapses in care can lead to seizures, hospitalization or death.”

Failure to provide proper care could have “grave” consequences.

“An improperly handled hypoglycemic event, for example, could be fatal,” Moran said.

According to the CDC, more than 40% of students have at least one chronic health condition such as asthma, Type 1 diabetes or epilepsy.

Moran said high acuity care “is not static” and situations can change rapidly.

“A child can go from stable to critical in minutes,” she said. “Forgetting the ratio of the entire school, it’s critical that a nurse is in the building to make those judgments in real time where minutes and seconds can matter.”

District proposal draws criticism

Both mothers said they were concerned about the district’s proposal to move from school-based nurses to the regional model.

“Cost cannot justify removing appropriate medical care for kids to attend school safely,” Moran said.

Allison criticized how the proposal was presented.

“It was presented as, ‘well, we’re already in deep trouble with this. So, we’re just gonna let it get worse to save money.’ That is so disingenuous,” she said.

The regional model would still have a full-time nurse at schools where there is a need for “high acuity” care at all times. This includes students with T1D or a feeding tube.

Still, the nurses may rotate in that situation, and so both parents emphasized the importance of school nurses knowing their students well.

“She knows all the things about Sky. She can kind of tell if Sky’s having an anxious day or if this is a call [to] mom or like even a call [to] 911,” Allison said.

Parents consider alternatives

As a licensed nurse herself, Allison hopes to see more creative solutions, such as incorporating more licensed nurse practitioners or medical assistants.

“The nurse’s office is where you go when you have issues with things that could impact your dignity as a kid. It’s the nurse’s office,” she said.

Moran said if the changes go through, she would consider pulling her son from ASD to protect his safety.

“This is not a policy issue for us,” she said.

Allison said she would fight for her daughter until she’s “blue in the face” but worries about other families.

“There are many families who do not have the ability to show up with that amount of advocacy, and like Sky said, it’s those other kids that matter,” she said.

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