The U.S. Department of Education says Missouri’s K-12 schools will get 1.95-billion total dollars in federal aid from the latest coronavirus plan. Linda Neumann, with the Missouri Association of School Nurses, hopes the state’s school districts will consider using some of the federal funding to hire school nurses.
Neumann tells Missourinet a 2020 state Education Department report shows about 20-percent of Missouri public school districts do not have a nurse.
She says the lack of school nurses usually has to do with a lack of local funding. Missouri has about 550 traditional public school districts and charter schools serving roughly 900,000 students.
Neumann says the group hopes school districts will use some of the funding to hire school nurses. She cites the Journal of American Medical Association showing the benefits of investing in a school nurse.
The federal aid plan also includes funding for a program to increase student internet connectivity for virtual learning and aid for nonpublic schools.
