CUMMING, Ga. — The school year begins in Forsyth County with pay raises for all school nurses and the hiring of a second mental health specialist.
Each of the county’s 42 schools has at least one nurse on campus every day.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
“They’re on the front lines of everything,” said superintendent Dr. Mitch Young. “They deal with the bruises and the scrapes and the cuts. They administer medication. They’re on the front lines with parents.”
Young said the district has an overall retention rate for employees of about 95%. But for nurses, he said, it’s around only 70%. In an effort to retain them, he told Channel 2’s Bryan Mims that nurses will see raises of anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Georgia elections official’s home shot at multiple times
- 2 accused of using U-Haul truck for ATM smash and grab in metro Atlanta
- Overcrowding had GA’s biggest district build a new school; Now it’s welcoming hundreds of students
“They are super, super valuable to our fight to help make our kids and staff, frankly, healthy,” he said.
Georgia does not mandate a full-time nurse in every public school, but does require specific health policies and procedures, such as trained staff to handle diabetes and seizures.
Dr. Ashley Johnessee, principal of Haw Creek Elementary, said nurses deserve better compensation to encourage them to keep working in schools.
“They also provide hands-on training for life-saving techniques in our building for all of our staff, and it is really important that everybody can respond in the case of a crisis or emergency,” she told Channel 2 Action News.
The district has also hired another mental health specialist to identify and help students struggling with mental health issues.
“Our counselors need support, they need tools, our social workers, our school advocacy specialists, and quite frankly our parents and families want to help. They don’t know where to turn,” Young said.
In addition to tending to the health and wellbeing of students, the school system has added positions to boost academic performance. Haw Creek Elementary, for example, has a new literacy coach this year.
And the district is enhancing security on its campuses. All teachers and administrators are wearing Centegix panic button badges that allow them to alert first responders in the case of a threat or emergency. Georgia law requires all schools to have this alarm system in place for the 2026-27 school year.
Johnessee said the first day of school is always gratifying.
“And the energy of coming back to school is electric, and it’s really the kind of thing that starts you off to a great school year,” she said.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2026 Cox Media Group
