St. Mark School Welcomes Back Nurse Frate

Recently, the St. Mark School community welcomed back their full-time nurse, Wendy Frate.

During summer break, St. Mark Principal Melissa Warner received some unsettling news. Due to budgetary reductions undergone by Stratford Public Schools, the school would no longer be provided with a full-time nurse. The town had suggested that the St. Mark School Nurse, Wendy Frate, split her time between the two Stratford Catholic Schools - St. Mark and St. James.

In a letter to parents, Warner noted, “Reducing our nurse might make the town of Stratford’s budget look better on paper and allow for money to be allocated elsewhere; but it is NOT benefiting anyone in Stratford, especially our children.”

The school community quickly rallied and within 24 hours a petition launched to support keeping a full-time nurse at both private schools garnered over 600 signatures - and over a 1,000 in less than a week.

“Parents deserve the comfort in knowing that when their children are out of their care during school hours that there is a medically trained professional in the building that can treat, aid and administer the proper medications, procedures and life saving techniques that could be needed in the case of an emergency,” suggested Principal Warner.

Rachel Rusnak agreed and was moved to write a letter to the editor of the CT Post, “As a parent, I elected to send my son to St. Mark to provide him with the best educational opportunities. As a Stratford tax (and private school tuition) payer, I believe that our children deserve access to a nurse every day they are in school. I also believe that the state of Connecticut would agree.”

Rusnak made reference to State Statute Sec. 10-217a which indicates that “each town or regional school district which provides health services for children attending its public schools in any grade, from kindergarten to twelve, inclusive, shall provide the same health services for children in such grades attending private nonprofit schools therein, when a majority of the children attending such schools are residents of the state of Connecticut.”

On August 22, supporters from both Catholic schools had the opportunity to voice their concerns to the Superintendent at the monthly Stratford Board of Education meeting, which included a public forum.

St. Mark School also submitted a formal letter of complaint to the board by outlining the healthcare procedures that are performed within the school setting. These included but were not limited to facilitating the consistent and necessary blood sugar testing and insulin pump management of students who require this to keep them safe.

It was reported that in the 21-22 school year, St. Mark School had 15 students with life threatening food allergies, 35 with allergy medications/non-life-threatening food allergies, 22 with asthma, three with cardiac conditions, two with blood dyscrasias, and one Diabetic Type 1.

The pleas of both school communities did not change the minds of decision makers. On August 30, the schools were informed that “the Stratford Board of Education stands by its decision, consistent with its adoption of its FY 2022-23 Operating Budget.”

With school starting in just days, St. Mark quickly constructed a transition plan to ensure protocols and best practices were in place for the protection and safety of students while a nurse was not in the building.

However, the weeks ahead proved that both school communities did in fact need full and proper medical coverage during the entire school day.

Finally, on September 30, Wendy Frate was informed that she would be reinstated as the full-time nurse at St. Mark School. The town informed both school principals that the reported medical coverage challenges prompted them to add an additional grant funded district floater nurse.

“Thank you to all who supported us in this endeavor,” shared Warner in a note to parents. “It is with great relief that I share that Stratford Public Schools will be reinstating a full-time nurse to both St. Mark School and St. James School for the 2022-2023 year. We are thrilled to have Nurse Frate back!”