In the ongoing discussion on the pros and cons of homeschooling, let’s not forget the school nurse.
This professional can receive HIPPA- and FERPA-protected information to oversee the health and safety of school students and prospective school students, but does not currently address the health and safety needs of kids in homeschool.
At this time, no state provides such protection and homeschool kids suffer the consequences. I urge Connecticut to mandate such protection in hopes of making it routine in all states. Protecting children’s health is not controversial and will more than pay for itself in health care savings.
Consider diabetes as an example. It ranks among the most common chronic diseases of childhood with high risk of morbidity and premature mortality. But routine use of insulin typically prevents hyper- and hypoglycemic crises, and death in childhood from diabetic ketoacidosis is rare. So, kids with diabetes typically glide through childhood with few impairments. They and their families can be unaware or forget that diabetic vascular pathology progresses silently through childhood. Tragically it roars in the middle and late years with high risk of kidney failure, blindness, impaired wound healing with consequent amputations, painful neuropathy, and premature death from heart disease and stroke. Currently, kids with diabetes are dying on average 10-years earlier than normal kids.
Fortunately, the morbidity and mortality of diabetes is largely preventable by keeping blood glucose and lipid concentrations under control throughout childhood and middle age. Physicians are permitted to inform the school nurse on the status of kids’ blood chemistry.
The nurse can then advise the students and their parents on how to maintain or improve their blood chemistry, and, in this way, reduce risk of harm in later life. The nurse can also notify DCF when necessary changes are neglected. Failure to control blood chemistry can qualify as medical neglect. Kids in homeschool deserve this same oversight and protection.
According to the Census, Connecticut has 546,000 kids between ages 5 and 18. It isn’t possible to know how many are in homeschool, but the estimated national average is 6.5%. The estimate for Connecticut is half that or 17,500 kids. According to the CDC, 0.45% of American kids are diabetic, so some 79 Connecticut kids are at unnecessary risk of diabetic morbidity and mortality because they lack access to a school nurse. It’s much worse than that, however, because the CDC estimates that 30% of kids are prediabetic and need the same advice that is given to diabetics. That’s 5,250 Connecticut kids in need of a school nurse.
Diabetes is expensive, consuming one of every four dollars spent on health care in the U.S. Mandating oversight by a school nurse will more than pay for itself in health care savings while sparing kids the brutal consequences of diabetes. And this analysis has only considered diabetes. Imagine all the other benefits from having mandatory visits with a school nurse for each homeschooled kid and his/her parent, perhaps one per semester, perhaps virtual. And, possibly, all that’s needed is to designate the school nurse as a public health authority and all kids in homeschool as prospective school students
The right of parents to educate their children as they see fit is fundamental, but so is the responsibility of the state to protect the health and safety of all children. Mandatory oversight of homeschool kids by a school nurse can satisfy both requirements. Let’s make it happen.
Doug Dix, Ph.D. is a Professor of Health Science (retired) at the University of Hartford, Emeritus Diplomat of the American Board of Clinical Chemistry, and Secretary/Treasurer of MOMS: The Fund for Mothers with Young Children.