20-6. School Nurses

20-6.1. Work Year. 

All newly appointed school nurses and all provisional and temporarily certificated school nurses shall be employed on a ten-school-month (208- day) basis. Employment of ten-school-month school nurses beyond ten school months shall be considered summer employment. Pension contributions and sick leave shall be based on the 208-day a ten-school-month year.

20-6.2. Supervision. 

The school nurse assigned to a school are under the supervision of the assigned nurse manager, as appropriate. The school nurse shall have direct supervision over health records as well as responsibility for assigning specific duties to unlicensed assistive personnel.

20-6.3. Professional Orientation. 

At least one professional orientation meeting shall be held during the regular school in-service meeting time for all school nurses. Said meeting may be held at the area or city-wide level. It is understood that area meetings may be on different dates in order to provide appropriate resource personnel, if such resource personnel are needed.

20-6.4. Salary Adjustments. 

20-6.5. Internships for Health Service Nurses. 

Health service nurses (HSNs) shall be allowed to participate in an on-the-job internship for school nurse certification, under the supervision of a certificated school nurse or an instructor from the certification program. This internship shall be allowable during school hours as long as they are providing services to students and staff in the Chicago Public Schools.

20-6.6. Clerical Assistance. 

School nurses shall be provided with clerical assistance in consultation with and approval of the principal.

20-6.7. Missed Lunch. 

Licensed Practical Nurses and Health Service Nurses who work through their regularly scheduled lunch period shall be permitted to schedule it at another time during the day, including at the end of the day.

20-6.8. Nurse Educational Advancement. 

The BOARD, in consultation with the UNION, will develop and implement a program for LPNs interested in becoming HSNs and HSNs interested in becoming CSNs. The BOARD will devote no less than $2,000,000 during the term of this Agreement to support tuition assistance for nurses, employees and prospective employees toward mutually agreed upon universities between the BOARD and UNION, as well as other related program costs.

20-6.9. Nurse Job Classification Changes. 

Nurses who advance job classifications will be placed in the appropriate lane according to their level of education and job classification on the step in that lane closest to, but not less than, their salary prior to the change. From there, they shall advance steps and lanes as determined by Appendix A.

20-6.10. Delegation of Medication. 

The BOARD will establish a Medication Administration Workgroup within sixty (60) days of ratification of this agreement. The Workgroup will consist of two staff nurses from each region and three nurse leaders, appointed by CPS Nursing Leadership, to review and assess current medication administration practices and create protocols for delegation, including training, documentation, and reconciliation procedures for all CPS nurses.

20-6.11. Nurse Staffing. 

The Board shall make all reasonable efforts to have at least one nurse assigned per school per instructional day by the last year of this Agreement. To support this goal, the Board and the Union will jointly advocate for legislative or regulatory changes that provide increased flexibility in licensure and credential requirements related to who may write and sign Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students requiring health-related services.