Thank you to everyone who has signed and shared this petition in support of protecting the role of school nurses and prioritizing student safety.

We recently received a response from the Board of Regents on 3/7/26 regarding the proposed rule change to Section 136.10. Their response states that the rule does not specifically assign diapering or toileting responsibilities to school nurses and that schools will have “flexibility” to assign these duties to appropriate staff.

While that may sound reassuring on paper, school nurses across New York understand the practical reality inside schools. When regulations are vague and responsibilities are not clearly defined, these tasks often end up falling to the school nurse by default. Nurses are frequently the only licensed medical professional in the building and are already responsible for hundreds sometimes thousands of students while responding to medical emergencies such as allergic reactions, seizures, asthma attacks, diabetic emergencies, and head injuries.

By removing the clear language that currently states toileting is not a nursing function and including us in the list of personnel who could be assigned to the task, the change creates ambiguity that will likely result in these responsibilities being shifted onto school nurses in many districts.

If that occurs, the Board of Regents and NYSED must be prepared to accept full responsibility for the consequences of that decision including delayed emergency care when the only medical professional in a building is occupied with non-medical duties. This issue has never been about unwillingness to help children. It is about protecting student safety and ensuring the nurse is available when a real medical emergency happens.

We will continue advocating for clear policy language that protects both students and the integrity of the nursing role in New York schools.

Thank you again to everyone who has supported this effort.