SEQUOIA HEALTHCARE DISTRICT AUTHORIZES
$4.5 MILLION INVESTMENT IN HEALTHY YOUTH
June 9, 2010
REDWOOD CITY — Addressing the fact of a childhood obesity epidemic and the virtual disappearance of public health programs in the place where children spend most of their days — in school — directors of the Sequoia Healthcare District Wednesday approved a $4.5 million, three-year cooperative arrangement with four San Mateo County school districts to restore a minimal number of school nurses, licensed vocational nurses, wellness coordinators, health educators, physical education instructors and counselors in public schools.
The first-year commitment is $1.5 million, which will supplement the $350,000 in grant funds Sequoia Healthcare District already provides to pay for 3.5 full-time equivalent school nurse positions this fiscal year. Subsequent years will be funded at a minimum $1.5 million annually.
The district’s new Healthy Schools Initiative is a collaboration with the San Carlos School District, the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District, the Redwood City School District and the Sequoia High School District.
Thirty-four schools, kindergarten through 12, in the area from Woodside to the Bay, Menlo Park to San Mateo, an area largely contiguous with the boundaries of the Sequoia Healthcare District, will benefit.
The healthcare district has been working with school superintendents for several months laying the foundation for the initiative, and the reaction from the schools was heartfelt as Sequoia directors approved the program.
“At our board meeting tonight we’re going to cut $7.8 million from our budget over last year, while at the same time we’re educating 1,000 more students,” Redwood City School District Board of Trustees President Dennis McBride told his Sequoia colleagues. “To come here and hear you say you’re going to give us money makes me speechless.”
Appreciation came from the community, as well.
Jo-Ann Sokolov, president of the board of the Redwood City Education Foundation, a volunteer organization that fundraises for local schools, said, “At times like this when parents and community members feel so downtrodden because all they hear is bad news and funding cuts, to have an organization like yours that cares so deeply about our children is profound.”
Dr. Emerita Orta-Camilleri, Superintendent of the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District, said educators have
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been aware of the organizational model on which Sequoia’s program is based. “A few years ago our staff and teachers talked about this model, and I want you to know the excitement this has created in our schools.
“We are faced with so many areas where we have to back-burner health and wellness items for the children — this helps a lot. We never have enough. I just think that what you’re trying to do is exemplary. Thank you for taking this role — we’re going to make you very proud.”
Redwood City School District Superintendent Jan Christensen acknowledged the support of the community foundation in the past, but said the need overwhelms even its best efforts. “They’re trying to save music right now, and the timing couldn’t have been better for us.”
Sequoia Healthcare District Director Art Faro spoke for the majority of the board when he said, “our raison d’etre is to keep the community healthy, and we have a program here that has the opportunity to help keep our children healthy. To me, this is a no-brainer.”
Director Faro seconded the motion of Director Katie Kane to approve the program.
The Healthy Schools Initiative is momentous but has precedents. Sequoia Healthcare District funds a number of county health and wellness clinics, as well as 38 community nonprofits that work to assure the health and well-being of children to seniors in hospice.
Sequoia Healthcare District funding helps pay physicians, dentists, nurses, LVNs, educators and a number of health care professionals. The initiative greatly expands its reach into the schools.
The districts and their funded positions and projects under the new initiative are:
San Carlos School District — Wellness Coordinator/Health Educator (1 full-time equivalent (FTE)), middle school counselor, athletic director, teacher development, schools gardens, Safe Routes to School, instructional materials and special events: $340,000.
Belmont-Redwood Shores School District — Wellness Coordinator (.5 FTE), PE Instructor (.5 FTE), Health Educator (FTE), Nurse (.5 FTE), LVN ( FTE), teacher development at all schools, school gardens, instructional materials and special events: $348,000.
Redwood City School District — Wellness Coordinator (FTE), Counselor (.5 FTE), PE Instructor (FTE), LVN, RN, Health Educator (FTE), teacher development, school gardens, Safe Routes to School, instructional materials and special events: $447,500.
Sequoia Union High School District — Wellness Coordinator (FTE), RN (FTE), teacher development, health aid skill development, instructional materials, special events: $238,500.
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