By MIKE JAMES

LOUISA - Each of the Lawrence County schools will have a nurse on site in the upcoming school year.

The district’s board of education last week approved a plan devised by Personnel Director Vernon Hall to hire nurses in lieu of replacing instructional aides who have resigned or retired, according to Superintendent Robbie Fletcher.

Until last year, the district had nurses in each building, but laid most of them off because of a budget crunch that demanded cutting $400,000.

Since then, three aides have left the district and more money has come in because of a small increase in state per-pupil aid and an increase in tax receipts, Fletcher said. The state increase came because enrollment went up.

By changing six aide positions to nurse positions and adding between $6,000 and $7,000 to the budget, the district can afford to put a nurse in each of the elementaries, the middle school and the high school.

One of them will be the current nurse manager, who previously worked out of the district office.

No currently employed aides will lose their jobs.

Following the nurse layoffs, there was enough parent concern and principal support to look for a way to return them, Fletcher said.

Among the concerns are diabetic students in some schools who require monitoring of their glucose levels, Fletcher said.

Also, the district has imposed a stricter attendance policy, and nurses are authorized to send sick students home with excused absences, he said.

Whether the change will leave the schools short of aides remains to be seen, Fletcher said. If so, the board will check the budget to see if any can be hired.