School nurses concerned with loss of vision screening service

CEDAR RAPIDS - School nurses were surprised to learn that Grant Wood Area Education Agency officials said they've received no complaints about discontinued vision screenings for all elementary students.

“I expressed my concerns when we were told of the decision,” said K O'Brien of the Springville school district. “I expressed concern when we first heard it was a possibility.”

The 2009-10 school year is the first year the agency hasn't screened kindergarten through sixth-grade students. The decision was made after a review of other state AEAs found that Grant Wood was the only agency still doing multi-grade-level vision screenings.

The decision was announced last spring.

“We determined that if we are to work as a statewide system, we needed to align our services with those offered by the other AEAs,” said George Held, Grant Wood AEA's spokesman.

Held said he was unaware of any complaints regarding the decision.

Julie McBride, nurse for the Tipton school district, said school officials have voiced their concerns to AEA board members and staff.

“We understand budget cuts because we're dealing with a loss of funds at our district, but we feel this is a valuable service,” McBride said.

A local optometrist volunteered his time to screen Tipton students. Nancy Alderdyce, district nurse for the Marion school district, also contacted local eye doctors to help with screenings.

“My concern is for outlying school districts that don't have local options,” Alderdyce said. “I'm worried kids will go for years without a vision check.”

According to studies, 80 percent of learning is visual. When addressing student learning concerns, educators check vision and hearing first.

“The earlier you can catch that, the better,” said Amy Balk, Starry Elementary School's nurse.

Grant Wood still performs vision screenings for kindergarten students, kindergarten roundup and early childhood special education programs. The agency also will screen students upon request.

“If there's a child that needs to be screened, they get screened,” Held said.

Still, nurses said it was better when every child was screened, regardless of concerns.

“Not every child realizes they have a vision problem,” McBride said. “The screening picks up on that.”

Vision services were reassigned to the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School as part of a statewide realignment. Grant Wood staff members who worked with students who had vision problems now work out of the school in Vinton.

The Statewide System for Vision Services provides services for students who are blind or visually impaired. The school does not perform vision screenings.