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Parents at New Midway Elementary have bounced from one official body to another as they pushed to restore a health room technician to their school.

And when they turned to the Frederick County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, they were redirected again – this time to state legislators.

About a dozen New Midway Elementary parents came to the joint meeting of the Frederick County Board of Commissioners and the school board Tuesday and urged commissioners to lift a hiring freeze at the Frederick County Health Department, which has caused five schools to lose health room technicians.

"We ask not only for our children but for all students in Frederick County who would be affected if the hiring freeze continues," said Chris Allen, whose child attends New Midway Elementary.

Parents who came to the meeting held up large photographs of their children while Allen told commissioners that without a health room technician to oversee their school permanently, their children are being put at risk constantly.

"Act today for there may not be a tomorrow for our children," Allen told commissioners on behalf of the group.

But they hit a dead end again, as commissioners said they simply do not have the money to address the problem. Commissioners told parents they need to talk to state legislators, who this year have cut more than 40 percent of the funding for local health departments.

The county has already been hit by two rounds of cuts from the state to their adopted budget for fiscal 2010. And, commissioners have yet to figure out how to bridge a $24.6 million deficit in the fiscal 2011 budget, which starts in July.

"The bulk of our deficit is a result of state cuts," said Jan H. Gardner, president of the Board of Commissioners.

School health technicians for New Midway Elementary; the Frederick County Success program (an adult special education school); the Career and Technology Center; Heather Ridge School and Lincoln Elementary have been lost due to budget cuts this year.

Typically, the Frederick County Health Department staffs every school health room in Frederick County with a permanent health room technician. Health technicians are certified nursing assistants and are the first line of defense at individual schools. They hand out medicines and deal with basic checkups, administer insulin to diabetic children and sometimes do catheterization.

But due to budget constraints and an extended hiring freeze, in effect since October 2008, the Frederick County Health Department has not been able to provide all schools with their own health technician this year. Schools without a technician are overseen part-time by school nurses in their area. But since school nurses travel between schools, often it is school administrators who have to handle health room issues.

That is a concern for New Midway parents who have been searching for help. Teachers and administrators are not qualified medical professionals and are not trained to recognize an emergency which requires a 911 call, parents said. Health room issues add to teachers' workload and constantly interrupts instruction, parents added.

School and health department officials recognize the problem even though it is not a legal issue. In Maryland, the minimum staffing ratio for school nurses to students is 1 to 750, regardless of the number of health technicians. The ratio for nurses working with special education students is 1 to 225.

Barbara Brookmyer, health officer for Frederick County, said starting on Monday, the health department will use its three floating health technicians to fill empty positions at three schools, including New Midway Elementary. But that solution will only last if the health department does not need the floating technicians to fill in for long-term sick leave or additional health technician resignations, Brookmyer said.

Some parents were not satisfied by this solution and said they plan to take their concerns to state officials.

"We will continue working our way up," Allen said.

Elizabeth McMahon, a mother of a fourth- and second-grader, called Brookmyer's solution "just a Band-Aid. It is skirting the issue."

McMahon said she is worried about the health and safety of New Midway students. The school's administrators and educators, including one physical education teacher, who is the only person at the school who knows CPR, currently deal with health situations.

"We just want what every kid in the county deserves – a health room technician," McMahon said.

E-mail Margarita Raycheva at mraycheva@gazette.net.