Mississippi is far from the nationally-recommended student-nurse ratio, but education officials are making strides to put more nurses in public schools.
Mississippi has 419 nurses in the state's 182 school districts. The national recommendation is one school nurse for every 750 students, but Mississippi's ratio is one nurse for every 1,800 students, said Estelle Watts, school nurse consultant for the state Department of Education.
Watts said having school nurses helps keep students in class and could have a positive impact on dropout rates because it improves attendance. She said 84 percent of the students who visit the nurse return to class.