MARSHALL — A Marshall elementary school is going to have a school nurse on site full time, to help meet student health needs.

At their regular meeting this week, members of the Marshall School Board voted to expand a nurse position at West Side Elementary to 8 hours a day, instead of dividing the nurse’s time between West Side and Holy Redeemer school.

Expanding the school nurse hours at West Side will be contingent on filling the nursing position at Holy Redeemer, said Dion Caron, director of business services at Marshall Public Schools.

The West Side nurse position is currently shared between West Side and Holy Redeemer, with the nurse spending about 5.5 hours a day at West side and 2.5 hours at Holy Redeemer. State funding for the nursing position at Holy Redeemer comes from the state, but goes through Marshall Public Schools, Caron said.

However, Marshall district staff recommended that this year, the nursing position should have more hours at West Side. This would help meet an increased need for a nurse at the school, for students with health concerns and medications, Caron said.

Caron said increasing the nursing hours at West Side to 8 hours a day will cost around $13,500 in salary.

Members of the school board voted unanimously in favor of the proposal at their meeting Monday.

Holy Redeemer will continue to receive state funding for a part-time nurse position, Caron said. He said the school district will be working with Holy Redeemer to help fill that position.