A couple of weeks ago, Nebraska’s State Board of Education unanimously passed a Coordinated School Health (CSH) Policy (policy is listed below). Julane Hill at DOE and Brian Coyle at DOH have been working collaboratively for a couple of years to implement CSH in Nebraska.
Nebraska has one DASH-funded position (HIV) and Brian and Julane’s positions are state or federally- grant funded. They have pulled together dollars (Team Nutrition Grant) to work with schools this year, as well as a larger CSH Statewide Partnership Workgroup that has consisted of more than 50 members.
Nebraska’s steering committee, consisting of DOE and DOH staff has been busy! They will be working with the 5 pilot schools to implement CSH, they are building internal infrastructure to address CSH at state and local level, and developing resources for training schools. They have had discussions with key legislators and some ongoing efforts include workshops, training events, a larger DOH plan that includes CSH, stimulus grant applications and partnership development, partnership development, partnership development!
I want to compliment them on all their hard work!
STATE OF NEBRASKA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATON March 2, 2010 POLICY FOR COORDINATED SCHOOL HEALTH
The Nebraska State Board of Education believes that education and health are inextricably intertwined. Healthy children learn better; children must be healthy mentally, physically, and socially. To achieve maximum success schools, families and communities must work together. A coordinated school health approach, designed to coordinate services and emphasize partnerships, will promote the physical, social, and cognitive development of children leading to increased academic success.
Preventable health risk behaviors formed in childhood persist into adulthood and are frequently interrelated. The Nebraska State Board of Education believes that the education system, in partnership with families and communities, should work together to address these health risk behaviors which, if left unattended, can lead to serious health problems and disabilities that are costly burdens on families and the entire state of Nebraska.
The Board believes coordinated school health positively impacts student academic achievement and empowers students with the knowledge, skills, and judgment essential to help them make healthy and responsible choices in life. The Board, therefore, encourages each Nebraska school district/building to adopt its own vision for student health and to plan, adopt, implement, evaluate, and periodically re-examine the effectiveness of coordinated school health within their district/school.
The Board encourages the following:
I. Each school district/school develop, adopt, and implement a comprehensive plan for coordinated school health based on the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention model for coordinated school health. Components of coordinated school health should include, but not be limited to, health education; physical education; nutrition services; health services; healthy school environment; school counseling, psychological, and social services; staff health and wellness; and family and community involvement.
II. Each school district establish a School Health Council and each school building establish a School Health Team that meets four times per year. In the alternative, a district may assign these activities to existing councils, committees or teams.
III. Each district/school designate a School Health Coordinator to assist with implementing and evaluating coordinated school health.