MSNO Legislative Tool Kit

• Share with them the data about your daily student encounters and health conditions
  
• Introduce them to your students who rely on nursing services in order to access their education (per parental consent)
  
• Let them count the epi pens, the inhalers, and the nebulizer sets, oxygen tanks, the AEDs, the glucometers, and the glucagon kits
  
• Advocate for funding for the fy 09 budget line item # 4590-0250 supporting School Health Services
  
• Advocate for the school nurse retirement bills, professional status, and pay equity
  
• Advocate for a school nurse in every school

www.mphaweb.org/issues_childobesity.htm

• Contact your state representative in support of healthy school nutrition
  
• Endorse An Act to Promote Proper School Nutrition
  
• Fact Sheet: An Act to Promote Proper School Nutrition (pdf)
  
• Community Action to Change School Food Policy: An Organizing Kit (pdf)
  
• MPHA's past legislative action
  
• Join MPHA's food and nutrition section!
  

www.mass.gov/legis

• H 2647, An Act to Define Further Teacher for Retirement Purposes sponsored by Representative Elizabeth Malia and filed by the Massachusetts School Nurse Organization via the work and advocacy of Craven & Ober, Policy Strategists, LLC, the lobbying team hired by MSNO www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/185/ht02pdf/ht02647.pdf.
  
  
• S 1524, An Act Relative to the Retirement Options of Certain Educational Personnel, sponsored by Senator Brian Joyce and advocated for by the Massachusetts Teachers Association www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/185/st01/st01524.htm

• S 1508, An Act Relative to a Retirement Buyback for School Nurses sponsored by Senator Robert Hedlund by request and petition of Joyce A. Toland, RN www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/185/st01/st01508.htm
  
  
• H 2614, An Act Relative to Creditable Service for School Nurses sponsored by Representative Thomas Kennedy on behalf of Fran Johnson, RN www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/185/ht02pdf/ht02614.pdf
  
  

• Monitor State’s fiscal budget line item 4590-0250 and advocate for continued funding for Essential School Health Services www.mass.gov/legis/08budget/senate/section2.htm
  
  
• H 430, An Act Ensuring Adequate Nursing Services At Public Schools sponsored by Representative Jennifer Flanagan www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/185/ht02pdf/ht02614.pdf
  
  
• S 349, An Act To Ensure Adequate School Nursing Services sponsored by Senator Richard Moore www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/185/st00/st00349.htm
  
  
• S 100, An Act Relative to Establishing a Special Commission to Study Essential Health Services in Massachusetts Public Schools sponsored by Senator Richard Moore www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/185/st00/st00100.htm
  
  
• S 101, An Act Relative to Funding for School Health Programs sponsored by Senator Richard Moore www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/185/st00/st00101.htm

• H 4199, (formerly H 2168) An Act to Promote Proper School Nutrition sponsored by Representative Peter Koutoujian and advocated for by the Massachusetts Public Health Association www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/185/ht02pdf/ht02168.pdf

• Oppose H 1139, An Act Authorizing Self Monitoring and Self Treatment for Students With Diabetes sponsored by Representative Louis L. Kafka www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/185/ht01pdf/ht01139.pdf
  
  
• Monitor impact in Massachusetts from the newly settled class action lawsuit between the American Diabetes Association and the California Department of Education www.diabetes.org/uedocuments/pr-cde-settlement-080807.pdf
  
  

• Monitor recognition of school nurses’ eligibility for professional teacher Status per passing of Chapter 267 of the Acts of 2006, An Act Granting School Nurses Eligibility for Professional Teacher Status www.mass.gov/legis/laws/seslaw06/sl060267.htm
  
  
• Monitor response from the Advisory Opinion on School Nurses and Eligibility for Professional Teacher Status by the Massachusetts Department of Education doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/advisory/061807nurses.html
  
  

• Improve the school nurse-to-student ratio and help ensure that all students’ health and safety needs are addressed while in the school setting
  
  
• Support the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), the full funding IDEA, and a position for a National School Nurse within the leadership of Department of Education.
  
  
• Ensure funding for school nursing services needed by students by supporting the improvement and reauthorization of SCHIP and Medicaid reimbursement to schools
  
  

• Plan to present oral testimony telling your story as school nurse with prior work experience as a nurse (please inform me of your plans to testify or with any questions via mls5154@aol.com)



• Plan to attend the hearing on September 27th and offer support for House Bill 2614 and Senate Bill 1508 by your presence with other school nurses.



• Submit written testimony via email/fax to the Joint Committee of Public Service* in support of House Bill 2614 and Senate Bill 1508 (and email a copy to me for MSNO via www.mass.gov/legis.
  
  

• What impact will the opportunity to buy-back years of creditable service have on you?



• Why should prior nursing experience be recognized as creditable service?



• What types/years of previous nursing experience do you bring to your role as a school nurse (intensive care, emergency room, cardiac, pulmonary, oncology, endocrine etc, mental health, pediatric medical/surgical acute care, community health, and primary pediatrics etc)



• Why do schools need nurses who bring with them a foundation of experience and a knowledge base and clinical skills to deal to autonomously respond to the vast magnitude of medical, physical, and psychosocial issues
  
  
• Request that the legislators consider the value of all nursing experience as creditable service and support that House Bill 2614 and Senate Bill 1508 be reported favorably out of committee.

• Replace sodas with healthier drinks, such as water, low- and non-fat milk, and juice

• Set healthy standards for fat and sugar in snacks

• Make fresh fruits and vegetables available in cafeterias

HB1139, An Act Authorizing Self Monitoring and Self Treatment for Students with Diabetes, is currently before the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing. (To learn more, please read MSNO's 3-07 Legislative Alert by clicking here.) Advocates for HB 1139, An Act Authorizing Self Monitoring and Self Treatment for Students with Diabetes have contacted superintendents in cities and towns to urge them to support this legislation.

HB 1139 would put children at risk and compromise nurses' scope of practice. The bill would allow families to determine how diabetes is managed in school without input from the school nurse, and allow non-medical employees in a school to make assessment decisions about sick children and to administer emergency medication (glucagon).

Action Please do it today!

Call or email your elected officials! Go to www.capwiz.com/massnurses to find out how to contact your legislators.

* Diabetes is a serious condition and complications require intervention from a licensed professional.

* Administering glucagon is a complicated procedure, as is assessing a student who is unconscious or seizing.

* Current regulations encourage collaboration between parents and the school. HB1139 would eliminate this collaboration.

Dear School Nurse Colleagues,

Representative Kafka (Stoughton) and Senator Moore have filed bills on behalf of the American Diabetes Association that would remove the care of students with diabetes away from the school nurse. It would also require teachers or staff to administer glucagon in an emergency. You can find the bill by going to this link:

www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/185/ht01pdf/ht01139.pdf
or
www.mass.gov/legis/

(At the bottom of the page clink on: Current Legislation. Go to Text of House Bills. Search for HB 1139.)

This is a dangerous House Bill, that has been filed by a powerful group. We need to organize and stop this for the health and safety of our students. This cannot be ignored. You cannot expect anyone else to do this. Each school nurse must help. Each nurse needs to get a parent to call. This is critical. If this passes then the Epilepsy group will have a Bill to delegate Diastat, etc. This puts students and school departments at risk, and will gut school nursing in Massachusetts.

HB 1139 will be heard tomorrow by the Health Care Finance Committee; you are not limited to calling or writing tomorrow. But do it as soon as possible.

You can link to the committee members at:

www.mass.gov/legis/comm/j24.htm

Or if that doesn't work, the committee members are:
Moore of Worcester and Norfolk - Chair
Tolman of Second Suffolk and Middlesex
Jehlen of Second Middlesex
Fargo of Third Middlesex
Spilka
Candaras
Tarr
Walrath
Kulik
Hynes
Koczera
Khan
Linsky
Kane
Kocot
Speranzo
D'Amico
Puppolo
Hargraves
Gifford

The Department of Education's "Advisory Opinion on School Nurses and Eligibility for Professional Teacher Status" was posted on the DOE website earlier this week. Here is the link to the advisory: www.doe.mass.edu/lawsregs/advisory/061807nurses.html.

This is an important step for Massachusetts school nurses. It took a year for the DOE to act on this legislation, which passed in July 2006. However, now it is officially part of Massachusetts General Law that school nurses have professional status and are Professionals!!! This is another step forward.

This week Kathy Hassey, Ann Farrell and I testified to support HB 430 and SB 349, "An Act to Ensure Adequate School Nursing Services". Luckily many school nurse advocates joined us such as MTA, MFT, MNA, Representative Kahn and the Massachusetts Public Health Association. No other school nurses attended.

______________________________________________________________________

Please call and thank Rep. Markey at 202/226-2424, especially if you are in the MA 7th District. School nutrition is something many school nurses are focusing on.

WASHINGTON : Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, sent letters to The Coca-Cola Company, General Mills, Kraft Foods, McDonald's and PepsiCo. asking each to voluntarily implement the same restrictions on marketing to children recently announced by the Kellogg Company. Last week, Kellogg agreed to adopt nutrition standards for the foods it markets to children and to place limits on its use of licensed characters and product placements in marketing directed at children.

"While parents and families have an undeniable responsibility to steer their children toward healthy choices, the Institute of Medicine has linked the current unhealthy trend toward poor nutrition and childhood obesity in our country to the prevalence of television advertisements for fast food, junk food, sugared cereals, and other foods wholly lacking in nutritional value. If this trend continues, our children could be the first in generations to enjoy shorter life expectancies than their parents," said Rep. Markey. "These companies are some of the world's largest food and beverage marketers, and together they have the power to play a significant role in solving the childhood obesity problem through socially responsible advertising practices. I urge them to follow Kellogg's lead."

Rep. Markey asked each company to commit to at least the same standards as the Kellogg Company put in place and to outline additional steps that may be warranted to safeguard kids from junk food ads during children's television programming, which have been found to negatively influence children's dietary and nutritional choices. The five companies that received letters are some of the world's largest food and beverage marketers and account for much of children's food and beverage advertising expenditures in the United States.

On Friday, June 22nd, Rep. Markey chaired a hearing entitled "Images Kids See on the Screen," to explore the link between TV advertising and childhood obesity, and to ask whether regulatory or legislative solutions are needed to restrict food marketing on television to combat the serious public health issue of childhood obesity.

Also see www.businessword.com for a great opinion piece on why Congress should curb junk food marketing to kids. It makes it sound like Congress taking action on junk food marketing to kids is inevitable, which is good to have companies read in BusinessWeek!

LINKS to the letters:

http://markey.house.gov/docs/telecomm/Isdell.pdf
http://markey.house.gov/docs/telecomm/general%20mills.pdf
http://markey.house.gov/docs/telecomm/kraft%20foods.pdf
http://markey.house.gov/docs/telecomm/mcdonalds.pdf
http://markey.house.gov/docs/telecomm/pepsico%20letter.pd

You may want to contact Senator Timility and thank him for prioritizing School Safety as an Issue for the Committee on Public Safety. See his contact information below.

The Honorable James E.Timilty
Senate Chair, Joint Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee
State House, Room 518, Boston, MA 02133
Telephone: 617-722-1222
Email: James.Timilty@state.ma.us

While the health needs of Massachusetts’ students have grown increasingly complex, many thousands of students receive no, or inadequate, school health services. At the same time, Governor Romney has proposed elimination of the School Health Program in his FY’05 Budget. By discontinuing this successful program, school nurses will be laid off and thousands of children will no longer have access to needed nursing services which, in turn, will impact their ability to attend school.

To help address this problem, school nurses, parents, students and health care advocates converged on the Massachusetts State House on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 from 8:30 A.M. – 11:30 A.M. for a School Health Advocacy Day.

The event, hosted by the School Nurse Services Collaborative, featured a number of speakers including government officials, parents, school administrators and school nurse representatives. All hoped to educate legislators and demonstrate strong support for legislative efforts to reject the governor’s proposals and to reinstate the $12 million in funding that is needed to maintain the standard of care needed to service the growing population of students with mild to severe health needs. Among those speaking at the event was Anthony Delmonaco, a 10-year-old 4th grader from Pembroke, who helped galvanize support for this issue with letters he wrote that were published in both the Boston Globe and Patriot Ledger detailing his fears of losing access to his school nurse, who helps him cope with his asthma.   (CLICK HERE to read Anthony's full speech in support of his school nurse.)

In 1998, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health presented a plan to the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees for the expansion of school health services. In FY 2001 and 2002, the legislature responded by increasing funding for school health services. In 2003, the legislature rejected the governor’s first attempt to eliminate the successful Enhanced School Health program that funds school nurses in cities and towns with children lacking access to adequate health care.

School nurses provide a valuable social and health care safety net, particularly in tough economic times as school nurses are a primary source for poor or uninsured children to have access to health assessment. Also, in the wake of growing concerns over bioterrorism, school nurses provide a readily available resource for early detection and rapid response in local communities to a public health emergency.

As early as 1992, a special commission relative to the practice of school nursing recognized the unmet needs of Massachusetts students and concluded, “Children attending schools in the Commonwealth today are faced not only with the usual and common infectious disease, they face the threat of other major health problems not always well understood by teachers, parents and the community. Special needs children integrated into classrooms of every town have significant health and