By RYAN CHRISTNER

rchristner@dailynews.net

As part of an ongoing series of informative presentations, the Hays USD 489 Board of Education hosted representatives from the district's nursing and library services in an attempt to better understand their jobs and the challenges they face.

Representing school nurses were Felten Middle School health specialist Mary Ann Shorman and Kathy Clark, a nurse who splits time between Kennedy Middle School and Lincoln Elementary.

Clark detailed the many mandated screenings -- for height, weight, vision, hearing and dental -- and other health checks, for head lice, rashes, signs of physical and sexual abuse, and infectious diseases, that are performed on each student throughout the year. She noted there are many functions they serve that are performed outside the school building.

"When you're a school nurse, you also become the nurse for the school children's younger siblings," she said. "We make home visits to the home to check sore throats, earaches and also again head lice. We also check on teachers' younger preschool children as well."

Clark said the district used to perform body mass index screenings, but that service has been discontinued.

"It may in the future become another state mandated screening with the increasing obesity issue in our youth," she said.

USD 489 employs eight school nurses and a health secretary, Shorman said, and those health care providers have received about $3,000 in grant money during the past few years to help them in their efforts to provide quality care to students.

"With 97 percent of the children in the United States spending their days at school," Shorman said, "the role of the school nurse is critical to the implementation of quality school health services.

"For many children, contact with a school nurse is often the only consistent access to a health care professional."

School librarians took the floor to describe their goals and services.

Washington Elementary librarian Sue Pallister explained to the board the progression they hope to see in students' research skills.

For children in kindergarten and first grade, the skills are limited, she said, but "as the years progress, we do less guiding and students do more on their own."

Students leaving fifth grade are expected to be able to prepare the majority of a report by themselves with some teacher help.

"By the end of 12th grade," Pallister said, "our goal is to have them be able to do all these things, like citing their sources and doing the work themselves to prepare them for college."

In terms of book supply, Pallister said district librarians endeavor to provide a wide range of reading levels so students have many choices within their collections.

One of the focuses at the high school level, Hays High School librarian Elizabeth Harris said, was giving students access to article databases that provide information on both sides of an issue.

But it's not all serious college preparation, as Pallister explained how the librarians enjoy inviting guests, such as underwater photographer and children's book author Michael Patrick O'Neill, to speak at the schools.

After both presentations, Assistant Superintendent of Finance Richard Cain gave slide presentations containing budget information pertinent to nurses and librarians.

In other business, the board approved a resolution to restate and amend the district's 403(b) retirement plan to comply with final regulations as they pertain to Internal Revenue Code section 403(b).

At the beginning of the meeting, Superintendent Fred Kaufman informed the board its estimated amount of funding for driver's education had taken a hit.

Kaufman explained that a nearly $10,000 shortfall had been created as a result of the district being given only $38 per student as opposed to the budgeted $139 per student.

The cause, he said, was a transfer of money from the state safety fund, which distributes driver's education funding, to the state general fund.

"I think that's a little bit of a fast move on somebody's part," Kaufman said. "The impact is we'll have to find $9,730 from somewhere else."

He said this morning he hoped the savings from lower energy costs could make up some of the loss.

Kaufman also told the board of funds received from J.C. Penney as part of the local store's April and August after-school round-up events.

He said the district received a check for nearly $2,000, which will be split among five schools to support after-school activities.