FT nurse bill moves forward

A bill requiring all D.C. public and charter schools to have a full-time nurse recently moved forward at the DC City Council Tuesday, when the DC Council Committee on Health voted 5-0 to pass the bill out of committee.  “The Mayor and the DOH Director have not supported this bill and are unlikely, absent political pressure, to put the money in the budget,” said Edward J. Smith, Executive Director of DCNA, which has been working closely with parents and the Washington Teachers Union to pass the bill. “We need to remind the Mayor that this is a priority and to put the lives of our children first,” said Wala Blegay, DCNA’s Staff Attorney. Current DC Law requires school nurses just 20 hours a week.

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