By GREGORY N. HEIRES

It took almost two years of battling City Hall but now parents with children in the public schools can rest easy. On Sept. 20, the City Council passed Intro. 207-A.

“We’ve made history,” said United Federation of Nurses Local 436 President Gloria E. Acevedo, who has been fighting for the law for almost two years. “No administration can come in now and decide to get rid of the Public Health Nurses as they have in the past.”

Sponsored by council member Michael McMahon, the law mandates that the Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene provide one Nurse for every private and public elementary school with at least 200 students and one Nurse or Public Health Advisor (represented by Local 768) for every private and public intermediate school with at least 200 students. The legislation provides nurses for 403 schools, 179 more schools than the Mayor’s plan allowed for. “We are passing my bill in order to guarantee every child’s right to be healthy and safe,” said McMahon.

“We’ve worked hard around this issue,” said Ms. Acevedo. “For some reason people forget that Public Health Nurses are one of the first lines of defense in cases of emergencies. So we’re happy not just for our members, but for the parents. They can now feel secure knowing that their children are taken care of.”