The Edmonds School District Board of Directors will receive an update and further discuss school-based health centers during its Tuesday, June 28 regular business meeting.
The board has talked about the idea several times over the past year. Staff have been gathering input and additional information for possibly creating a school-based health center for some of the district’s most at-risk students.
School-based health centers are located in or adjacent to a school and offer integrated medical, behavioral health and other health care services such as dental care. Services provided are typically defined by community need and primary care is provided by a physician assistant or nurse practitioner, licensed mental health providers and a clinic coordinator.
In April, the board was told that the on-campus health center would be sponsored by the Verdant Health Commission and Community Health Centers (CHC) of Snohomish County, which would staff and manage it. Plans call for the health center to be located at Meadowdale High School and include two phases of implementation. If approved, the school-based health center would be the first of its kind located in Snohomish County.
Tuesday night’s meeting also features a single reading and subsequent vote to potentially approve an interagency agreement between the Edmonds School District and Community Health Centers of Snohomish County for school-based health centers. The project will be grant funded.
Other items on the agenda include an update regarding the district’s Native Education program. The board will have a second reading of a new policy for resolving staff complaints and then vote on whether to approve it.
The school board meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. and it can also be viewed via livestream. There is also an opportunity for public comment and the complete agenda can be viewed here.
As I watch my property taxes soar (retired, living on fixed income), I wonder about how the school system is becoming more of a *social agency* than a place of learning. Feeding kids (even when school is not in session) and now health care centers?
I do NOT have an issue with these programs per se, but what I wonder is if, when the school system says “we need more money for schools”; whether that money is going to education, or ever-increasing social programs? Perhaps putting social programs under the “school” umbrella might make it easier to get money from the public?
It’s just a an observation to ponder. Are the charters of our public institutions (the Library is another example) are changing, and if so, are we making these changes with eyes wide open. I believe education is the largest piece of the property tax bill.
Again, I don’t have a problem with the programs; just questioning whose budget money is coming from, and whether this is a trend we wish to see increase?