School Nurse

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.

Tayler Doyle, a senior at Springfield Township High School in Montgomery County, says half-jokingly that guidance counselors are the only reason she's passing her classes and on track to graduate this year. She says she checks in with her guidance counselor, Mary Soboleski, "like twice a day. " "She's done everything for me to pass," Doyle said Wednesday. Officials at the school say they work hard to ensure students don't slip through the cracks. "If they are falling behind, we scoop them up pretty quickly and get them on track," said Sylvia Sanfilippo-Cohn, director of special education and student support.

James Reeder and Margaret Davis Reeder, an inseparable Philadelphia couple whose love story inspired those who knew them, died within four days of each other at the Meadow View Nursing & Respiratory Care Center in Williamstown. Mr. Reeder, 85, a retired chemist, died Thursday, Nov. 25, of complications from colon cancer; Mrs. Reeder, 83, a retired school nurse, died Sunday, Nov. 28, of dementia and congestive heart failure. From the time they met as neighborhood children in their native Charlotte, N.C., the two were rarely apart.

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.

When Isaiah Hart, a first-grader with autism, came home from school Oct. 25 with a knot on his head and scratches around his neck, he told his parents that his teacher did it. The principal at the school, James Rhoads Elementary in West Philadelphia, investigated and found no evidence to corroborate Isaiah's claims, but the 8-year-old's parents are upset that the school has no answers as to how he was hurt. "If they didn't do it, why didn't [the Department of Human Services] come out to my house and question me or the school district or anyone come and find out who did this?"

Mary Giambrone Barker, 89, of Somerdale, a former nurse at Wills Eye Hospital who was involved in various South Jersey charities, died Wednesday, Nov. 3, at her home. After a few years working as a school nurse in the Bridgeport School District, Mrs. Barker took some time off to raise her family. In the late 1960s, when her five children were in school, Mrs. Barker went back to nursing. She worked at Wills Eye for close to 20 years, her family said. During that time, Mrs. Barker also volunteered for many charities, including the Society of St. Vincent DePaul and a ladies charity through the Camden Diocese.

The sun was well above the horizon. Yellow buses across the region were rumbling on their way to school. But in a darkened third-floor dorm room at the Hill School, Alexander Hoey, 17, was still heeding a biological imperative at 7 a.m. He was sound asleep. Partway through last year, the school, which is in Pottstown and serves primarily boarding students, moved the start of classes 30 minutes later, to 8:25 a.m. Schools from Minnesota to Maryland have taken a similar tack, in some cases delaying the first bell by more than an hour.

Palin defense fund illegal, probe says ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A legal defense fund set up for Sarah Palin when she was Alaska governor was illegal, an investigator for the state Personnel Board said Thursday. Investigator Timothy Petumenos said the Alaska Fund Trust inappropriately used the word official on its website to describe it, wrongly implying Palin's endorsement as governor. Her attorney, Thomas Van Flein, said she would return the money from the fund, which brought in almost $390,000.

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.

No additional arrests had been made in the attack Friday on 10 students at Julia Howe Elementary School in Fern Rock, Philadelphia police said Saturday. At 12:50 p.m. Friday, seven or eight teenagers, at least one wielding a baseball bat, attacked fourth and fifth grader on the school's playground during recess. Three teenagers from Martin Luther King High School were arrested Friday and charged with assault. Police did not release their names because they are juveniles. "I want to stress there were no serious injuries," said Lt. Frank Vanore, police spokesman.