District hires nurse

The Cedar Grove-Belgium School District has filled its new part-time nurse position, although not with the person it initially tried to hire.

Kristina Gabrielse has been working in the district for about a week, Director of Special Education Tamra O’Keefe said.

Gabrielse has eight years of nursing experience and spent five years in administration. She most recently managed her family’s 13-bed nursing home facility. She has worked at Bethel Home in Palos Heights, Ill., as a registered nurse.

She lives in Cedar Grove with her husband and two young sons.

The School Board unanimously approved hiring Gabrielse on Oct. 28.

The board on Oct. 14 approved hiring Jeanna Sullivan, who has a bachelor’s degree in nursing and experience in clinical trials for the Covid-19 rapid test, but she turned down the job. Sullivan works at Aurora Urgent Care in West Bend and as a part-time nurse’s aide in the Plymouth School District.

A part-time nurse to work as many as 28 hours per week was needed to help primarily with notifications to families about Covid-19 exposure. The district only had a nurse working eight hours on Wednesdays.