Pennsylvania’s School Nurse Law Is 75 Years Old and Twice as Stretched as CDC Guidelines
Pennsylvania requires one school nurse for every 1,500 students, a ratio written into law 75 years ago and double the gap the CDC now says is acceptable. On June 16, 2026, 20 school nurses traveled to the state Capitol in Harrisburg to demand an update.
House Bill 2285, sponsored by Rep. Lisa Borowski (D-Delaware County), would cut the mandated ratio in half, to one nurse per 750 students, matching current CDC recommendations. The bill would also raise the state’s flat reimbursement rate for school health services by 30%, calculated against average student enrollment, and tie future reimbursements to a school’s actual cost of care rather than a fixed rate.
One Pennsylvania Nurse Logged 12,000 Student Visits in a Single School Year
The staffing gap is not abstract. Kacie Blum, a middle school nurse at York Suburban Middle School in York County and the 2025-2026 School Nurse Excellence Award recipient for Pennsylvania’s South Central Region, saw nearly 12,000 students over the past academic year, roughly 60 to 75 per day.
12,000 Student visits logged by a single nurse at York Suburban Middle School in one academic year. A nearby urgent care clinic sees about 35 patients per day with multiple providers on staff.
Leigh Ann Coary, a nurse in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District whose conversation with Borowski directly prompted HB 2285, sometimes sees more than 100 students in a single day. She described what happens when volume outpaces capacity.
“If I’m dealing with a medically fragile student, I cannot also be in another hallway responding to an allergic reaction. If I’m on the phone with a parent about a student in crisis, I cannot simultaneously be running to an emergency. When we are shortstaffed the question becomes, ‘Who is left waiting?’”
Leigh Ann Coary, school nurse, Tredyffrin/Easttown School District, June 16, 2026
Pennsylvania’s Ratio Trails Other States With Mandates
Pennsylvania is one of only 12 states with a school nurse staffing mandate, but its current 1-to-1,500 ratio is among the weakest in that group. Alabama and Vermont both require one nurse for every 500 students, three times more coverage than Pennsylvania currently mandates.
HB 2285 remains pending in the Pennsylvania House. No vote has been scheduled as of June 17, 2026.
What You Can Do Now
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Call your Pennsylvania state representative and ask them to co-sponsor or vote yes on House Bill 2285. Find your rep’s direct number at legis.state.pa.us. Say: “I support HB 2285 to lower the nurse-to-student ratio to 1 per 750 and raise school health reimbursements by 30%.”
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Contact the Pennsylvania House Education Committee and ask for a hearing on HB 2285 before the end of the 2026 legislative session. Reach committee members through the PA General Assembly directory. The longer the bill sits without a hearing, the less likely it passes this term.
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Call Rep. Borowski’s district office at (610) 328-6025 to say you support the bill and ask what else constituents can do to push it forward. Direct constituent calls from outside her district signal statewide support.
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Bring the data to your local school board. Ask your board to pass a resolution urging the legislature to act on HB 2285. School boards carry weight with state legislators, especially in competitive districts. Your district’s nurse-to-student count is public record.
Sources
- Pa. school nurses push for more staffing support, funding — Pennsylvania Capital-Star (2026-06-17)
Pennsylvania Capital-Star: Pa. School nurses push for more staffing support and funding Pennsylvania General Assembly: Text of House Bill 2285 CDC: School Health Guidelines on Nurse-to-Student Ratios National Association of School Nurses: Nurse-to-Student Ratio Position Statement Education Commission of the States: State School Nurse Staffing Requirements Comparison
[Quote: “If I’m dealing with a medically fragile student, I cannot also be in another hallway responding to an allergic reaction. When we are shortstaffed the question becomes, ‘Who is left waiting?’”, Leigh Ann Coary, school nurse, Tredyffrin/Easttown School District.
Pennsylvania Capital-Star, June 16, 2026]