School Nurse

They gathered in the shadow of the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, Philadelphia's main Catholic church, in an amen chorus of support for nuns. "For Sister Marie Timothy, who assured me I didn't have an attitude problem and that I was a strong woman in the making," said a school nurse. "For Sister Evelyn, who put my feet on the path of demonstrating in Washington in 1972," said a baby boomer. "To Sister Mary Paul, for teaching us the mysteries of sex in middle school!"

St. Mary School in Monroe Township, Gloucester County, will remain closed the rest of the week after a number of students either fainted, became dizzy or complained of feeling ill during a school assembly on Monday. Patricia Mancuso, the school principal, and the Rev. Cadmus D. Mazzarella, pastor of Our Lady of Peace Church, the sponsoring parish for the elementary school, notified parents of the closing. Originally, school officials announced this morning that the elementary school on Carroll Avenue in the township's Williamstown section would be closed for the day. However, diocesan officials announced in the afternoon that the school of 600 students would remain closed.

Desiree Ramos was watching a science film in her ninth-grade homeroom at New Foundations Charter School when she began to feel shaky - a sign she knew meant low blood sugar. Ramos, a type 1 diabetic since age 5, whispered an explanation to her teacher and headed to the nurse's office. She deftly pricked her finger and watched as a test strip swallowed the tiny bead of blood. Within seconds, her glucose meter registered 42 (normal blood glucose is between 80 and 180). "I was a little scared," she recalls.

Gertrude F. Tierney Lavery, 79, of Cherry Hill, a longtime nurse at Cinnaminson High School known for her outgoing and take-charge attitude, died of liver cancer Wednesday, May 12, at Fox Chase Cancer Center. Though Mrs. Lavery's title was registered nurse, she took various other roles at the school: counselor, teacher, even emergency driver. "She was extremely accommodating to kids and went beyond what was expected of her," said teacher Al Sloan, who worked at the school all 26 years Mrs. Lavery was the nurse.

A school nurse has sued the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District, contending that she was illegally assigned to homeroom and other duties in addition to her nursing job. According to the suit, Bonnie Spangler of Wayne, a nurse in the school district for the last six years, has been assigned to "morning duty" this school year and last in violation of the state Public School Code. Her morning duty involved monitoring the cafeteria at the Swarthmore-Rutledge Elementary School, where pupils await the start of the school day. Spangler's suit, filed Dec. 6, does not seek damages.

Rebecca Ellen Jones Alderfer, 79, of Hartsville in Bucks County, a retired school nurse known for her compassionate nature, died of lung cancer Sunday in Abington Memorial Hospital. After practicing nursing at the Abington hospital for several years in the 1940s, she earned a bachelor's degree in education from what was then West Chester State Teachers College and became a school nurse. "Thousands of schoolchildren felt her loving touch during her 20 years as a school nurse for the Central Bucks School District," said a son, David Alderfer.

I read with dismay the article "Budget ax threatens school nurses" (Monday). How unfortunate that State Sen. Jeffrey Piccola and Jennifer Hoover-Vogel of the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials were not better informed about the role of the certified school nurse before advocating a policy that would allow school districts to hire uncertified nurses. School nursing is a community health specialty. As pointed out by experts quoted in the article, it is ridiculous to suggest that just any nurse can with minimal training assume the responsibilities of a school nurse.

Anna C. Heller, 88, a school nurse who gave three decades of service to Mount Holly schools, students and families, died Tuesday at the New Jersey Veterans Memorial Home in Vineland, where she lived. A 1926 graduate of the former Mount Holly High School, Mrs. Heller received her nursing degree from the Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing in Philadelphia, and her school nursing permit from Trenton State College in 1935. She received a bachelor's degree in education from Rutgers University in 1947.

Jacqueline Rich Sauro, 79, of Moorestown, a longtime nurse at Cherry Hill High School East whose easygoing personality made her a favorite chaperone for class trips, died of lung cancer Friday, Nov. 12, at her home. Mrs. Sauro took her school nurse's job "to an entirely different level," said former Cherry Hill East principal James Gallagher, now the district's assistant superintendent. "She was a surrogate mother to a lot of the kids," he said. Students were often in her office seeking advice on more than just health, he said.

For 22 1/2 years, youngsters in the Norristown school system might just as well have had their mother in the school nurse's office. Until she retired in 1984, Jessie Woessner was in charge. And in addition to dispensing Band-Aids and throat lozenges, she took an active interest in their overall well-being, according to her daughter. "She cared for them as if they were her own," said Jessie Ann Moser of Allentown. Mrs. Woessner, who lived in East Norriton Township, died Friday at her home.

St. Mary School in Monroe Township, Gloucester County, will remain closed the rest of the week after a number of students either fainted, became dizzy or complained of feeling ill during a school assembly on Monday. Patricia Mancuso, the school principal, and the Rev. Cadmus D. Mazzarella, pastor of Our Lady of Peace Church, the sponsoring parish for the elementary school, notified parents of the closing. Originally, school officials announced this morning that the elementary school on Carroll Avenue in the township's Williamstown section would be closed for the day. However, diocesan officials announced in the afternoon that the school of 600 students would remain closed.

In the second incident of its kind in just over a week, a student in a Philadelphia school shot a classmate with a pellet gun Tuesday afternoon and was suspended and arrested, authorities said. School District spokesman Fernando Gallard said a seventh grader brought a plastic pellet gun to Henry A. Brown Academic Plus School, a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade facility at Sergeant and Jasper Streets in Kensington. The student shot a classmate in the back of the head about 11:30 a.m., officials said.

About 200 people organized by Occupy Philadelphia protested state funding cuts for education outside School District headquarters Thursday afternoon. Some speakers addressed other issues, but the main thrust was education during the rally of Occupy protesters and union leaders at 440 N. Broad St. Gov. Corbett's proposed budget would eliminate $21 million in funding - mainly used for full-day kindergarten and prekindergarten programs - for the Philadelphia School District. The district already faces a $61 million shortfall this school year.

About 200 people organized by Occupy Philadelphia protested state funding cuts for education outside School District headquarters Thursday afternoon. Some speakers addressed other issues, but the main thrust was education during the rally of Occupy protesters and union leaders at 440 N. Broad St. Gov. Corbett's proposed budget would eliminate $21 million in funding - mainly used for full-day kindergarten and prekindergarten programs - for the Philadelphia School District.

WITH a 25 percent poverty rate ($23,050 or below for a family of four) - up from 18.5 percent in 2000 - Philadelphia is the country's biggest poor city. Seventy percent of its children have public health-insurance coverage. Yet, since the summer, the Department of Public Welfare has removed 25,000 city children from the medical assistance rolls, kids whose family incomes are believed to still fall within the qualifying guidelines. For these now-uninsured children - and every other child who attends the city public schools - the district's layoff of 47 school nurses means that the children's health and educational prospects have taken a step backward.

IT IS VERY unfortunate that Philadelphia has decided to reduce the number of school nurses. All children benefit from the expertise provided by the school nurse. However, for the child with diabetes, a number of other caregivers can be trained to administer insulin and to recognize and treat low blood sugar. Parents of newly diagnosed children with diabetes quickly learn to care for their child. They also train others, such as family members and babysitters, to provide care. And, of course, older children can usually administer their own insulin.

MOST FOLKS were predicting first half, if not the opening minute. But coach Jim Fenerty behaved himself for quite a while Saturday as Germantown Academy hosted Peddie School, of New Jersey, in Part II of Basketball Milestone Weekend. And then, late in the third quarter, the impulses could no longer be repelled. Jim Fenerty stood and dispensed some advice. Ah, all was right in his basketball world. Depending upon your viewpoint, Fenerty now owns 500 or 501 victories in 31 seasons as a high school coach, with eight at the ol' Bishop Egan and 23 at GA. Officially, the number is 501, but Fenerty was not present Friday night at GA as the Patriots edged Haverford School, 60-59, in Inter-Ac League action.

MOST FOLKS were predicting first half, if not the opening minute. But coach Jim Fenerty behaved himself for quite a while Saturday as Germantown Academy hosted Peddie School, of New Jersey, in Part II of Basketball Milestone Weekend. And then, late in the third quarter, the impulses could no longer be repelled. Jim Fenerty stood and dispensed some advice. Ah, all was right in his basketball world. Depending upon your viewpoint, Fenerty now owns 500 or 501 victories in 31 seasons as a high school coach, with eight at the ol' Bishop Egan and 23 at GA. Officially, the number is 501, but Fenerty was not present Friday night at GA as the Patriots edged Haverford School, 60-59, in Inter-Ac League action.

When nurses are not in the building, noontime aides dispense students' medication at some Philadelphia schools. At others, it's principals, secretaries, gym teachers, or counselors. That violates state rules, the Philadelphia School District's largest union said in a formal complaint announced Wednesday in an effort to halt the practice. The district is "endangering the lives of the school children it is required to protect," the complaint contends. Separately, the union has grieved the layoff of 47 nurses and will go to arbitration Friday, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan said.

THE UNION representing nurses in the Philadelphia School District wants the state to force the district to stop allowing non-nurses from medicating students. The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers filed a claim last week with the state Department of Health arguing that permitting the non-nurses to do so violates state school code and the Guidelines for Pennsylvania Schools for Administration of Medications and Emergency Care. The district cut 47 school-nurse positions in December as part of a plan to close a $629 million budget shortfall.