Some parents question new CPS nurse program

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Some parents are raising questions about the new nurse program for Chicago Public Schools. The school board voted Wednesday night to hire a private company to take over the program.

Abby, 7, begins a new round of physical therapy this summer for the rare disease that creates developmental and medical challenges. Next year she will be second grader at Chicago Public School.

Her mom, with a younger daughter in tow today, hopes a new management company understands the importance of having a consistent school nurse.

"With a child like Abby, I am very nervous," Carrie Gornik says.

Wednesday night the CPS Board approved a four year contract with RCM Health Care Services to schedule, recruit and train school nurses. CPS says the new company promises to streamline the system that is already facing a shortage of nurses.

"Nobody has any really accountability for that, and that's my big concern," says CPS school nurse Denise Racky about the new contract. "People will come in and go, and students will not get the services that they need."

According to some CPS nurses, current nurses juggle more than one school with nurses outside of the school system filling in gaps where needed.

"I'm concerned that it's not going to be the quality and continuity and compassion that we need," says Joan Lipschutz, a nurse with CPS.

Gornik says Abby had a bad experience two years ago at a school with revolving nurses.

"I actually had to go every single day and physically show the nurse, teach the nurse how to do it, and make sure everything was going right," Gornik says. "I actually didn't feel comfortable leaving her."

Gornik, a former teacher herself, says special needs or not, students are best served by a regular school nurse.

"Even for the common cold or flu," she says, "you want to be able to go to the nurse."

Chicago Public Schools says they do not expect or plan any layoffs with the new management team and hope to improve the quality of care and increase the amount of time nurses have at schools.