Should School Nurse Also Teach in Bloomingdale?

While at the May 21 Bloomingdale Board of Education meeting over the consideration of hiring a school nurse who was also certified to teach so that she may teach one or two health classes, the board approved the hiring without hearing objections from the public on June 4.

The nurse will be hired for the 2012-13 school year with the intention that she will teach at least one class. Interim Superintendent Dr. Terrance Brennan said the certification should have been required previously, regardless of whether the nurse teaches, though the district does plan to take advantage of the nurse's certification in education.

Brennan also said a benefit from having the nurse teach would be that the teachers currently teaching health class would be available to teach other subjects.

Several parents had said at the May 21 meeting they were worried that the time the nurse spends in the classroom is time spent away from the nurse's office and questioned what would happen in an emergency. Brennan said that the classroom would not be far from the nurse's office and that in the event the nurse needs to leave the class, she would find another teacher to cover the class.

Tell us what you think. Should a school nurse also be responsible for teaching a class? Participate in our poll below and let us know your thoughts in the comments.