Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
Council Member Schulman questions DOHMH on school nurse funding and allocation
3:29:59
·
168 sec
Council Member Lynn Schulman engages in a Q&A session with DOHMH Acting Commissioner Dr. Michelle Morse and CFO Aaron Anderson regarding school health nurses. The discussion covers the budget for contracted nurses, their allocation across schools, and the number of students benefiting from these services.
- The executive plan includes additional city funding of $68.5 million in FY 2026 for school nurse contracts.
- DOHMH manages about 500-600 contracted nurses out of a total of 1,400 between DOHMH and DOE.
- Only 113 schools out of hundreds do not have a school nurse or school-based health center.
Lynn Schulman
3:29:59
School health nurses, the executive plan includes additional city funding of $68,500,000 in fiscal year '20 '20 '6, '70 '2 point '9 million in fiscal twenty twenty seven, and 77,400,000.0 in the out years to cover school nurse contracts.
3:30:14
I understand that contracted nurses are split between DOE and DOHMH.
3:30:19
What is the total contracted nurse budget for DOHMH in fiscal twenty twenty five and the projected fiscal twenty twenty six budget?
Michelle Morse
3:30:27
Thank you for that.
3:30:28
I'm gonna just mention that for school nurses, again this is a huge priority for us.
3:30:34
We do have about 1,100 NYC public school and DOHMA staff nurses and between our two agencies about 1,400 contracted nurses as well.
3:30:46
In addition to a number of public health advisors, nursing directors and nursing supervisors as well.
3:30:54
So this is a huge program and I'll pass to our Chief Financial Officer to describe the budget details.
Aaron Anderson
3:31:00
Thanks Doctor.
3:31:01
Morris.
3:31:01
Yeah, so contracted nurses, there's about 1,400 or so between both agencies.
3:31:06
We know, the number, it's a moving target but tends to fluctuate between about five to 600 at any given time on the health department How
Lynn Schulman
3:31:14
many nurses will be contracted out starting in fiscal twenty twenty six and how does this number compare to prior fiscal years?
Aaron Anderson
3:31:21
I think we expect the range to be similar for next year.
3:31:24
And you had asked about the cost as well.
3:31:26
The cost has been growing in recent years, especially since COVID, about $80,000,000 a year.
Lynn Schulman
3:31:31
Do you know how many schools are gonna receive the funding and the criteria to allocate the funding?
Aaron Anderson
3:31:37
So the funding comes to us.
3:31:38
The program is run by the Office of School Health, which is jointly run by the two agencies, and they decide sort of where placements are and where the need is.
Lynn Schulman
3:31:44
Do you have a breakdown of the council districts where the schools are located, where the nurses are allocated?
Aaron Anderson
3:31:50
We could certainly get back to that.
Lynn Schulman
3:31:51
Can you put that together?
3:31:53
Thank you.
3:31:54
And do you know how many estimated number of students are gonna benefit?
Aaron Anderson
3:31:58
I think we'll have to get back to you on that too.
Michael Phillips
3:32:00
Okay.
Michelle Morse
3:32:01
One one thing I will just add to that, we we would have to get back to you on that specific number, but out of all of the hundreds of schools that are run by NYC public schools, only 113 of them do not have a public school nurse, do not have a nurse and that's mostly because either the school is small enough where it's not needed or there aren't specific medical needs or there isn't a space.
3:32:24
So it's a very small number of schools that don't have either a school nurse or a school based health center.
Lynn Schulman
3:32:31
When you give us the breakdown by council district if you could tell us where those schools are and all of that, that would be helpful to us.
3:32:38
Sure.
3:32:38
So that we can all work together.
3:32:39
I know, doctor Morris, that you're working very closely with the chancellor because she told me So thank you for that.
3:32:46
Of course.
3:32:47
Alright.