By GREGORY N. HEIRES
It took almost two years of battling City Hall but now parents
with children in the public schools can rest easy. On Sept. 20,
the City Council passed Intro. 207-A.
Weve made history, said United Federation of
Nurses Local 436 President Gloria E. Acevedo, who has been fighting
for the law for almost two years. No administration can
come in now and decide to get rid of the Public Health Nurses
as they have in the past.
Sponsored by council member Michael McMahon, the law mandates
that the Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene provide one Nurse
for every private and public elementary school with at least 200
students and one Nurse or Public Health Advisor (represented by
Local 768) for every private and public intermediate school with
at least 200 students. The legislation provides nurses for 403
schools, 179 more schools than the Mayors plan allowed for.
We are passing my bill in order to guarantee every childs
right to be healthy and safe, said McMahon.
Weve worked hard around this issue, said Ms.
Acevedo. For some reason people forget that Public Health
Nurses are one of the first lines of defense in cases of emergencies.
So were happy not just for our members, but for the parents.
They can now feel secure knowing that their children are taken
care of.