FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Jill Badlotto trusted her son’s school to keep him safe. The first grader has a severe food allergy.
“He will go into anaphylaxis and he could potentially die,” Badlotto said.
That trust was shaken when she discovered — through a Facebook post — that her child’s school no longer had a nurse.
“It’s scary,” she said. “They told me they would then teach my son’s teacher, but she should just be focused on teaching.”
At Harbordale Elementary, parent Jill Gerner said she also wasn’t notified directly.
“My child has an EpiPen and an inhaler,” Gerner said. “I love our office staff, but they’re not medically trained.”
The Broward County School District confirmed 49 schools no longer have nurses this year.
In a statement, the district said each school now has “two trained staff members to provide basic medical aid” and that “students requiring skilled nursing assistance have a nurse assigned.”
Officials said the model mirrors the one used before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Badlotto said that’s not enough.
“They shouldn’t have that on their shoulders — that, God forbid, my son reacts and they’re in charge of his life,” she said.
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