Hamilton County Schools updates school nursing policy following new parental consent law

The Hamilton County school board updated district policy to allow nurses to help students in emergencies, in response to a new Tennessee law mandating parental consent for medical treatment of students.The state law, which was passed earlier this year, requires schools to get consent from parents for non-emergency care and allows parents to sue school districts if they fail to do so before administering care. The updated district policy clarifies that nurses can decide to administer treatment without parental instructions in certain cases, such as when a student is injured.Board member Ben Connor said during Thursday's school board meeting that the policy was needed to make sure the state law isn’t applied too broadly. He noted that the law was originally aimed largely at prohibiting gender-affirming care for transgender youth in Tennessee schools.“The way that the law was written was to address situations with trans people, but the trickle-down effect is that we had to get permission slips for our children to see the nurse if they broke their arm on the playground,” he said.The policy was passed on a 10-0 vote, with board member Karitsa Jones absent.In other related business, the board also approved funding for a new staff position for networking with legislators and informing school board officials of laws that apply to the school district.Connor said the new position, which will pay about $110,000 annually, will enable the district to stay on top of changes in legislation and identify avenues for school funding. He said the new position would have been helpful in navigating and addressing state laws relating to school nurses earlier.“With the constantly and massively changing rules, it absolutely warrants a full-time person that is always conscientious of this and making good investments in our community,” he said.Board members Rhonda Thurman and Larry Grohn voted against funding the position, with Grohn calling it a “glorified lobbyist” position.“I don't see why we need an additional lobbyist,” Grohn said. “I would rather see more tutors in the classroom.”