6th grader’s death adds to fears over Philly layoffs of school nurses

This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.

by Sarah-Whites Koditschek for NewsWorks

In late September, a Bryant Elementary School 6th 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 that 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 Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia where she died Sept. 25.

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