Trustees for the Eureka Union School District opted not to cut its nursing staff down to one full-time position Tuesday, following parent and nursing staff objections to the proposal.

A staffing plan had recommended trustees reduce its nursing staff to one position, down from its current level of 2.4 full-time employees.

At last month’s board meeting, several parents spoke in opposition to the cut, noting the district’s 3,800 students are too numerous to be served effectively by one full-time nurse. On Tuesday, trustees agreed. Instead, the nursing staff will be cut to two full-time positions. The decline is in line with a district staffing ratio aligned to enrollment, trustees said.

“I think that cut is far too large, it’s just physically impossible for nurses to get to all those campuses,” board member Russ Nash said.

Board President Jerri Davis agreed.

“We would have had lowest nurse-to-student ratio in the entire area,” she said.

- Nathan Donato-Weinstein