SB 356 Expands school healthcare abilities

This bill establishes a School Nurse Specialist in the Oregon Department of Education. The School Nurse specialist will collaborate with the State School Nursing Consultant of the Oregon Health Authority to assess health information, standardize school nursing practices, and lead school healthcare teams throughout state public schools.

Personal Choice and Responsibility
Notably this bill makes no mention of working with school health teams to inform parents about student health issues. Instead this bill requires that the new office of School Nurse Specialist work to identify “health-related barriers”, reduce chronic absenteeism, and support “educational equity” in schools. In effect this bill proposes another office in the Oregon Department of Education designed to dismember the parent-child relationship.

Fiscal Responsibility
The creation of another position within the ever growing Oregon Department of Education will cost additional monies to the tax payer without direct benefit to the tax payer. This position is within keeping with the goal of establishing healthcare systems within the state public schools. While this initial position will have an initial limited financial impact, it will most likely demand more tax monies in the future. Despite this likely costly outcome, this bill currently does not note a fiscal impact.

Limited Government
The absolute absence of the words parents or guardians puts parents on notice that the position of School Nurse Specialist has no concern of parental rights. “Health” systems in schools both covertly and overtly diminish parental rights, often to the point of failure to notify parents of care given to their own children. It will also give both the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Health Department access to more private health information of Oregon’s students. The potential crisis for individual rights and overall health of children cannot be over stated in the creation of this office

Local Control
A School Nurse Specialist in a state level position whose role is to work with the Oregon Health Authority will remove control of “health” programs in local public schools

Free Markets
This bill threatens the healthcare market with the state providing more health care options for minors in Oregon at tax payer expense. All this despite the “free healthcare” provided under CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program). This is an unofficial adoption of a socialist medical system.