District reports new nursing model, more health aids and a big rise in documented health visits

Jill Irving, district health services supervisor, told the board the district implemented a nurse-plus-health-aid staffing model this school year and created a Health Aid Academy for training. "We implemented a district nurse and health aide kind of nursing staffing model," Irving said, describing the model's emphasis on RNs training and delegating while placing a health room aid in nearly every building.
Irving said staffing changed from 02/2022 figures of about 10 registered nurses, two unofficial health room aides, one administrative assistant and five LPNs working in instructional-assistant roles, to 02/2025 staffing of five registered nurses (including Irving) and 14 health room aides. She said the district now has a health room aid in every building except central; STEM has one half time and shares that aid across sites.
The district recorded roughly 18,000 documented health office visits in 2023'24 and about 26,000 in 2024'25, Irving said; staff estimate roughly 1,500 of the newer entries were duplicate documentation but credited the increase to clearer expectations and consistent staffing at health rooms. Irving described realistic training equipment (mannequins, lifelike injection pads, a fake finger for glucose testing) and said the district will offer CPR and "stop the bleed" training, create medical emergency response teams, and pursue Heart Safe School recognition through Project ADAM.
Funding and supplies: Irving said some emergency supplies came via collaboration with the city crisis response team and from grant funds designated for health and safety initiatives. She proposed stocking a district inhaler (albuterol) in schools with strict nursing oversight; she said staff would follow standing orders and medical-advisor approval. Board members asked about costs; Irving said an individual school solution could be "under $100" per school for supplemental albuterol equipment and estimated a districtwide figure discussed in the meeting at about $141,500 (board member question phrasing inconsistent).
Why it matters: The staffing model aims to improve day-to-day clinical coverage, documentation and emergency preparedness across 14-plus school sites. Board members praised the training and the use of district-embedded health aides.
No formal vote was taken; the presentation was an informational report and the district said it will continue to deploy training and equipment according to identified needs.