Teachers, teaching assistants and secretaries from the district joined members of the Hicksville Council of Nursing Practitioners as they marched in front of the Hicksville administrative building and high school to protest the district's treatment of the nurses in their ongoing contract negotiations.

The nurses, who have been working without a contract since June 1997, distributed literature detailing their situation to residents attending the school board meeting being held in the high school auditorium. They have argued that the district is not negotiating in good faith and is unwilling to afford them certain contractual items that other employee groups in the district are.

The district has maintained that they are negotiating in good faith and they have stated in the past that they will continue to meet with the nurses to come to an agreement.

"Seeing them [district employees] out there with us gave us at least the feeling that someone appreciates what we are doing," said Mary Ann Stachurski, president of the Hicksville Nurses Association. "I would hope that their support would have a positive effect on the negotiations."

Close to 50 members from the Hicksville teacher, teaching assistant and secretary unions marched in support of the nurses' contract efforts.

"It is a cause we believe in. The nurses are very important to the kids and I do not think their treatment at the negotiating table has been fair," said Eileen Millis, president of the Hicksville Secretaries Association.

"Our schools would not be the safe places they are if we did not have school nurses and I see no reason why they should get paid less than a garbage driver does," said a foreign language teacher in the middle school. "Our children are not trash and that is what the nurses are being treated as."

According to Stachurski little has changed since the nurses' council first marched to bring their plight to the attention of the Hicksville community in late April.

Lisa Quarels, New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) labor representative and chief negotiator, explains that sometimes the community is under the perception that there is not a problem with a situation like this because it all takes place behind closed doors.

"That is why they are out here and why they may have to repeatedly come out to let the community know what is happening," said Quarels. "We want to increase the community's awareness and sensitize them to . . . what these nurses are going through."

The nurses are seeking increased salaries along with other items. According to them they are among the lowest-paid employees in the district. They argue that their compensation does not correspond with the level of expertise they possess or the responsibility they take on.

"I do not believe that the public, or the administration, truly understands what these nurses do. Hicksville school district has one of the most if not the most fragile populations of children in all of Nassau County," said Donna Verry, NYSNA labor representative. "These people do everything that hospital nurses do, but in a school. They need to have more help. They are not well paid. They fall somewhere in the lower range, in terms of salary, despite what the administration says," said Verry.

"The fact of the matter is that people think school nurses put on bandaids. The truth of the matter is that these people take care of very sick children and they should be treated with respect," continued Verry.

According to Mary Ann Stachurski, the nurses current contract consists of only eight pages, whereas the contracts of other employee groups in the district are much more extensive.

"It is time we had some language in our contract to protect us," said Stachurski

"It is important for everyone to know that we support them. We are another part of the employee system so we feel the nurses need support and we are here to do that," said Don Boccio, first vice president, Hicksville Teachers.

"We have to show the unity of all the employees in the district. We all want to be treated fairly when it comes to negotiations," said Peggy Gill, vice president, Hicksville Secretary Association.