Oakland County To Hire School Nurses To Combat Coronavirus Fears

OAKLAND COUNTY, MI — Oakland County plans on hiring 68 nurses to work with schools through December as districts plan on reopening to in-person classes.

County executive David Coulter on Thursday announced that the Oakland County Health Division and Oakland Schools are collaborating on a $2 million COVID-19 school nurse initiative, which aims to give students, parents, school faculty and staff confidence that they will be safe when school resumes in the fall.

“We know the concern the virus has caused among students, parents, school faculty and staff,” Coulter said. “We are working closely with our partners at Oakland Schools to provide prevention strategies that will allow our schools to resume the important work of educating our young people. We want everyone to have confidence we are doing everything we can to provide a safe and healthy learning environment.”

Don't miss important updates from health and government officials on the impact of the coronavirus in Michigan. Sign up for Patch's daily newsletters and email alerts.

The Oakland Together School Nurse Initiative will assist schools with public health strategies and direction to prevent the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus, which has been contracted by more than 59,000 people in Michigan as of Thursday. School nurses will provide communication, training, consultation and recommendations to school districts when students return for classes in the fall.

Dr. Wanda Cook-Robinson, superintendent of Oakland Schools, said the partnership comes at an important time for education and families.

“After the child's home, school represents the second most influential environment in a child's life,“ Cook-Robinson said. “We are excited to be partnering with the Oakland County Health Division to bring the Oakland Together School Nurse Initiative to our students, parents, teachers and staff. Nurses working in the schools will have a crucial role in supporting health services to children and youth during this pandemic as they will be instrumental in implementing practices that will help prevent the spread of COVID-19.”

The Oakland County Board of Commissioners is expected to consider the request at its next meeting. Funding would come from the federal CARES Act, the county said. The program is believed to be the first of its kind in the state.

Officials said the program has three components, which include communication, training, consultation and recommendations. Nurses would meet with individual districts to update them on coronavirus activity in the community, provide prevention strategies for high-risk children and connect parents to additional resourced as students would be instructed on social distancing strategies, hand washing, health screening and planning for what may come next in the pandemic.