T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM
Lead Nurse Stacey Tool-Crawford tells the Marshalltown School Board about the latest student health stats gathered from the 2025-26 school year. Conditions tracked by her department have seen an increase in numbers.
The number of health conditions found in students in Marshalltown Community School District has risen since the previous school year.
Lead Nurse Stacey Tool-Crawford presented the latest stats on the health of last year’s student population during the regular school board meeting on Monday.
Out of the 5,117 enrolled students, 2,585 or 51 percent had health conditions.
“This is pretty standard for us,” Tool-Crawford said. “Between 45 to 50 percent of our students have reported chronic health conditions. This can range from visual impairments to some of our more detailed diagnoses. But generally this is pretty standard – 51 percent of our students.”
Compared to the 2024-25 school year, the numbers of health conditions increased for the 2025-26 school year. Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD) rose from 522 students to 584, anxiety, 300 to 345; asthma, 323 to 378; autism, 149 to 171; depression, 145 to 163; developmental delays, 141 to 231; diabetes, 10 to 14 and; seizure disorder, 59 to 63.
“Most all of them have kind of trended up a little,” she said. “The one that is most obvious is developmental delays, and I think really the reason that that is seeing an increase is how the information is captured in Infinite Campus. The diagnostic categories are broad, and there are a number of different diagnoses that can fall under this grouping. As we refine how we pull and review the data, more of these conditions are being included in the totals. It may also reflect actual increased reporting.”
Some examples of developmental delays are speech, cognitive, motor and social or emotional.
Tool-Crawford told the board that the aforementioned conditions were ones the National Association of School Nurses advised should be tracked.
She also showed the board the number of health office visits per building. All of the buildings had an increase from the previous year, with the exception of Fisher and Hoglan elementaries, Miller Middle School and Marshalltown Learning Academy. Tool-Crawford said some of the buildings that saw significant increases in office visits compared to the 2024-25 school year, such as Franklin Elementary, might be due to chronic conditions.
Superintendent Theron Schutte asked if the high numbers for Franklin and Fisher elementaries are directly related to Level 2 and Level 3 programs, which are statewide designations indicating how many resources are necessary to meet the needs of special education students. Tool-Crawford told him that was correct.
Out of the 75,538 total nurse visits during the 2025-26 school year, 1,606 were sent home and six had to have emergency responders.
“So, we are able to keep about 98 percent of our students here at school,” she said.
Tool-Crawford also said vaccine compliance is at 100 percent across the district. The nurses, she said, work with families and Marshall County Public Health to ensure students are up to date on their vaccines.
Then she spoke about the emergency health plans (EHPs), which are created by building nurses for students who might need emergency or specialized care. Tool-Crawford said some of the buildings have more EHPs than others, such as Lenihan Intermediate and Marshalltown High School.
“It is for [conditions] such as diabetes, seizure disorders, severe allergies, asthma, cardiac conditions and other similar needs,” she said.
Tool-Crawford added that nurses are also involved in 504 plans, which ensure students with disabilities receive a quality education. She believes there are more 504 plans in middle and high school because classes become more challenging and students realize they may need accommodations to help them.
She told the board the district is working with ClaimAid, a new third-party biller for Medicaid, of which 117 students are on.
“It seems to be a pretty smooth transition,” Tool-Crawford said.
Each building nurse is an active participant in attendance teams. Tool-Crawford said in some cases they will conduct home visits for health-related absenteeism and will collaborate with families of students with chronic conditions.
“I would like to implement a tracking system, which we haven’t done,” she said. “I would really like to do that so we can track to see how many times a nurse had to be involved for attendance, I do know it’s quite a bit.”
Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.
