May 14, 2015
Thom Carroll/PhillyVoice
The School District of Philadelphia headquarters on North Broad Street.
The School District of Philadelphia is considering outsourcing its school health services to private providers, CBSPhilly reports.
Health service jobs in the schools are currently held by unionized school nurses.
The district has issued a request for proposals (“RFP”) from providers who want to take over medical services in one, some, or all of Philadelphia’s public schools. Right now, 183 school nurses, represented by the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, do those jobs, with many schools sharing nurses.
Superintendent William Hite said the district aims to provide students with more health services without spending more money.
“We like our nurses," Karyn Lynch, the school district’s chief of student support services, told CBSPhilly. "We definitely appreciate what they’re doing. What we’re trying to do is offer more.”
Under the RFP, private vendors are required to offer jobs to current nurses before hiring new staff.
