District health services report: nurses’ workload, rising medical needs and a dental‑mobile transition

Molly Satter, the district’s health services coordinator, presented data the board said illustrates growing medical needs among students and ongoing school‑based health work. Satter said the district employs 33.5 full‑time‑equivalent school nurses who provide services across 38 buildings and that nursing staff created approximately 2,550 care plans in the past year.

Satter reported counts and trends the district has tracked: 95 students with diabetes (up 34 in six years), about 266 students with seizure disorders (up 56 in six years), roughly 408 students with life‑threatening allergies and about 1,334 students with asthma. She said nurses carried out roughly 322 daily scheduled nursing treatments and made approximately 18,430 parent contacts last year, including health education and referrals.

Satter described the services nurses provide, from medication administration and tracheostomy or ventilator care to seizure response and chronic‑disease management, and emphasized individualized care plans and training for staff. She said nurses can help families enroll in public health insurance and arrange transportation to appointments.

Satter also described community partnerships and operational changes: Falls Community Health clinics in several schools have reduced operating hours because of decreased city funding, and Delta Dental’s mobile unit plans to discontinue direct services in Sioux Falls. The district has been working with Falls Community Dental and Delta Dental on a transition; Satter said Falls Community Dental will assume mobile clinical operations as of February 2026. Under that change, the mobile clinic will be run as a federally qualified health center site with sliding‑scale fees; Medicaid and private insurance will be accepted but families may need to provide income verification and two separate consents (one for exam, one for treatment).

Board members asked whether decreased clinic hours have affected attendance or illness rates; Satter said she did not have specific numbers immediately but that clinics that do operate are fully utilized and the district will track impacts. The board acknowledged Satter’s report by voice vote.