Sponsors (5)
The bill would expand access to full‑time registered nurses in schools—improving student health, chronic condition management, public‑health screening, and nurse retention—while requiring substantial new federal and local spending, creating administrative burdens, and risking uneven rollout that could leave some districts behind.
Students: Many more schools would have at least one full‑time registered nurse on site, improving daily care, emergency response, and reducing health‑related absences so students stay in class more often.
Parents and families of students with chronic conditions: Better on‑site management (e.g., asthma, diabetes) and continuity of care reduces emergency visits and caretaking burdens at home.
High‑need and lower‑income communities: The bill directs priority funding to high‑need LEAs so under‑resourced schools gain nurse services, helping reduce disparities in school health access.
Taxpayers and state/local budgets: Expanding full‑time nurses and funding 5‑year competitive grants will increase federal, state, and local spending and could require new funding or budget reallocation.
Uneven implementation risk: Without sustained or evenly accessible funding, wealthier or better‑resourced districts may implement faster while smaller or grant‑ineligible districts are left behind, temporarily widening disparities.
Local administrative and logistical burden: Districts may face challenges recruiting nurses, revising staffing models, setting competitive salaries, and managing grant processes, adding workload for local administrators.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Establishes a competitive 5-year federal grant program to recruit, hire, convert to full-time, and retain school nurses and to meet recommended nurse-to-student ratios.
Creates a competitive 5-year federal grant program to help state and local education agencies recruit, hire, convert to full-time, and retain registered nurses so every elementary and secondary school has at least one full-time registered nurse and recommended nurse-to-student ratios are maintained. The Education Secretary must set up the program and issue regulations within 12 months, and applicants must submit needs assessments, hiring plans with recruitment priorities for underrepresented populations, and annual, disaggregated workforce reports.
Introduced January 9, 2025 by Frederica Wilson · Last progress January 9, 2025