6th-grader's death adds to fears over Philly layoffs of school nurses
by thenotebook on Oct 11 2013 Posted in Latest news
By Sarah-Whites Koditschek for NewsWorks
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In late September, a Bryant Elementary School sixth-grader died from asthma complications. Her parents and Philadelphia school administrators have offered conflicting accounts of the incident.
In the wake of the child's death, asthma educators are concerned about the impact reduced staffing will have on medical emergencies that occur at school.
Laporshia Massey's parents say she was in class when the asthma attack began. She called them to say she couldn't breathe -- and someone from the school called to say she was sick, her father told the Philadelphia City Paper.
The school nurse, who works two days a week at Bryant, was not scheduled that day, the paper reported.
According to the report, Laporshia was driven home by school staff, then taken by her parents to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia where she died Sept. 25.