BILL REQ. #:  H-4208.1 

Read first time 01/17/08.   Referred to Committee on Education.

     AN ACT Relating to coordinated school health; adding new sections to chapter 28A.210 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that good health increases educational achievement and educational achievement enables good health. Recent research has shown that students suffering health conditions including obesity, tobacco use, substance abuse, diabetes, asthma, and other conditions are less likely to perform well academically, are less likely to pass the Washington assessment of student learning, and are less likely to graduate from high school. The legislature also finds that the death rate for those with fewer than twelve years of education is more than twice that for people with more education. Students who drop out are also more likely to experience early pregnancy, cardiovascular illness, cancer, diabetes, asthma, and other health conditions and are more likely to require health and social services.
     The legislature further finds that both academic achievement and health in Washington vary significantly by income, gender, race, and ethnicity. On-time high school graduation rates are half of the state average within some groups. Some groups experience double, triple, or quadruple the rates of illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, asthma, and diabetes, and some groups have average life expectancies years shorter than the statewide average.
     Finally, the legislature finds that despite significant investments in child health both in schools and in the community, including recent legislative efforts to extend health coverage and services to all of our state's children through expansions in state medical assistance programs, employer incentives, and by other means, and despite the heroic efforts of school teachers, health service providers, administrators, counselors, school nurses, parents, and others, school health efforts are too often characterized by competition, duplication, and inconsistency.
     The legislature believes there is great promise for child health improvement in school-based efforts to coordinate health personnel, programs, and resources for children at school through a single school health advisory council. To support this vision, state-level leadership in both the public and in the private sector, as well as among educators and health professional groups, may also be required.
     Therefore, the legislature intends that this act establish a system to coordinate efforts toward improving the health of children in Washington schools. The legislature believes that schools are more likely to attain our state's academic achievement goals and the goals of the federal no child left behind act of 2001 if each child's health issues are removed as barriers to their learning. Moreover, promoting each child's academic success by improving their health offers among the best long-term hopes for Washington to become the healthiest state in the nation.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.210 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) A grant program is created to assist school districts to establish coordinated school health councils, develop coordinated school health programs, implement the school health advisory committee, nutrition, and physical activity goals and standards under RCW 28A.210.365, and meet physical activity requirements in rules of the state board of education and the health and fitness essential academic learning requirements established according to this chapter. A coordinated school health council established under this section meets the requirements of RCW 28A.210.365 regarding a school health advisory committee.
     (2) A school district may use grant program funds provided according to the terms of this act to establish either councils or coordinated school health programs at each school within the district, or both.
     (3) A coordinated school health council should be broadly representative of the community and education stakeholders, such as parents, students, teachers, health professionals, local public health officials, employee bargaining units, school facility staff, educators, district officials, local media outlets, and business leaders. Each council's membership should include persons knowledgeable in at least the following areas: School environmental health, health services, health and fitness education, nutrition services, guidance and psychosocial health, parent and community involvement, and staff wellness.
     (4) A coordinated school health council shall:
     (a) Assess the status of student health, school employee wellness, health education, physical education, school food service and nutrition, the school environment, health services, behavioral health and support services, and community health service collaboration;
     (b) Assist in the development of health policy at the district level;
     (c) Recommend to the local school board programs, policies, and procedures on any aspect of student, school employee, or community health in relation to school children, their parents, or school employees; and
     (d) Coordinate the school district's health and related support services with other relevant services within the community.
     (5) A coordinated school health council must meet at least three times per year and must report biennially on the status and needs of student health and safety in the school district to the local school board, the board of the local health jurisdiction, and the office of the superintendent of public instruction. Copies of the report should be transmitted to the Washington state school health advisory council and the state department of health, and should also be made available to local print and electronic media outlets. Such reports may include recommendations for changes to any federal, state, or local rule, law, program, or ordinance that the council believes will improve school health or facilitate the implementation of coordinated school health programs.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 28A.210 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Based on a review of applications and the recommendations of the Washington state school health advisory council established in section 4 of this act, the office of the superintendent of public instruction shall provide grants to school districts in order to:
     (a) Allow school districts to establish and operate coordinated school health councils; and
     (b) Fund specific improvements to the health-related policies and practices within a school recommended by such councils and requested by a local school board.
     (2) By January 1, 2009, the superintendent shall make planning grants of no more than twenty-five thousand dollars to school districts that seek to establish a coordinated school health council and to begin implementing elements of the coordinated school health model adopted by the federal centers for disease control and prevention, so long as the district exceeds the state median in their proportion of free and reduced meals and falls below the state median in its students' scores on the Washington assessment of student learning. The superintendent is encouraged to create the most streamlined granting process as possible and to provide technical assistance to eligible districts in completing grant applications to the extent it determines districts have limited grantsmanship resources.
     (3) Not later than one year after receiving a planning grant under this act a school board must approve a school health assessment overseen by their coordinated school health council relating to staffing, programs, policies, and practices in at least the following areas: Student physical activity and nutrition, school employee wellness, student health services, and behavioral health services. Each assessment may include recommendations to the local school board, the local health jurisdiction, local offices of relevant public and private health and social service agencies, or the state for coordinating public, private, state, and local health programs within the school setting to improve student health and academic achievement. Programs that must be considered for coordination include at least:
     (a) State medical assistance programs, including the children's health insurance program;
     (b) Substance abuse treatment and prevention programs;
     (c) Local public health jurisdiction programs, including immunization programs, other family and child health programs, and tobacco and obesity prevention programs;
     (d) Safe routes to school programs;
     (e) Programs for the prevention of child abuse and neglect; and
     (f) Publicly funded operations of private health service clinics.
     (4) If the school board determines that an adequate coordinated school health program cannot be implemented through the coordination of existing state, local, and private resources, the local school board is encouraged to seek additional federal, state, or local funds to maintain the council or for specific school health improvements from such sources. Additional funds which may be available under this section may be requested only if the school board determines that there is no reasonable expectation of receiving needed funds from such sources.
     (5) In addition to the planning grants authorized by this section, the superintendent shall provide coordinated school health leadership grants to no more than five districts who have demonstrated leadership in implementing the coordinated school health model by January 2009 in at least one of their schools by recently having completed a comprehensive school health assessment; improved school nutrition, physical activity, or school health services; implemented employee wellness policies or practices; and participated in the governor's community health bowl. A portion of such leadership district grants shall offset a district's costs to act as a training, technical assistance, and demonstration site for other schools and for the cost of an independent evaluation of the impacts of the district's entire coordinated school health effort on academic achievement, health status, and personal behavior. Such grants may cover costs for any aspect of a leadership district's coordinated school health program that the local school board determines may not be reimbursed through coordination of existing health programs enumerated in subsection (3) of this section, or through increased funding from existing state, local, and private resources.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 28A.210 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The Washington state school health advisory council is created consisting of twenty-three members.
     (2) Members of the council shall include one representative from each of the following organizations or agencies: The department of health; the Washington academy of pediatrics; the American cancer society; the American heart association; the University of Washington school of public health; the nursing commission; the Washington asthma institute; the family policy council; the health and recovery services administration; the children's alliance; the state board of health; the superintendent of public instruction or the superintendent's designee; the Washington State University cooperative extension; the Washington association for health, physical education, recreation, and dance; the Washington health foundation; the Washington school nutrition association; the school nurses organization of Washington; the Washington state parent and teacher association; the Washington education association; the Washington association of school administrators; the Washington state school directors' association; the Washington dental service foundation; and the state board of education.
     (3)(a) Councilmembers shall serve for terms of three years except for the initial members, whose terms shall be staggered so that seven shall serve for one-year terms, eight shall serve for two-year terms, and eight shall serve for full three-year terms. Members may serve more than one term. If a vacancy occurs, the organization or agency that made the original designation shall appoint a person to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the leaving member's term. Members of the council shall serve without pay but may receive reimbursement for travel expenses if funds are available.
     (b) The council shall select from its membership a chair and a vice-chair who shall each serve a one-year term. The chair and vice-chair may serve more than one term if selected to do so by the members.
     (c) The council shall meet at least quarterly.
     (d) The office of the superintendent of public instruction shall contract for the provision of office space and staffing for the council with a nonprofit organization implementing a public/private campaign that involves schools and that publicly reports statewide population health improvement measures of healthy eating, active living, receipt of proven preventive medical care, and academic achievement. In collaboration with the state department of health, the superintendent may use resources of the coordinated school health infrastructure initiative to meet a portion of this requirement.
     (4) The council shall:
     (a) Develop cooperative agreements among its member organizations and recommend state and federal policy changes that remove specific impediments to local efforts to implement coordinated school health programs;
     (b) Recommend model policies and procedures that result in the efficient use of resources to improve student and school health at the school, district, or community level;
     (c) Recommend and disseminate information about model program guidelines, policies, resource lists, and position papers that further the work of school health advisory councils;
     (d) In consultation with the University of Washington center for public health nutrition, provide assistance to school districts receiving grants under this act to implement coordinated school health councils or programs, and assist with the evaluation of programs funded under this act; and
     (e) Establish an annual competitive awards program to recognize any schools and/or districts within the state that demonstrate exemplary policies or practices in relation to implementation of coordinated school health.
     (5) The council may establish regional support centers to assist with implementing its duties under this section within funds appropriated for this purpose.
     (6) The council shall promote cultural competence in all of its efforts and shall prioritize school employee wellness, school-based health and behavioral health services, and obesity prevention including school nutrition and physical activity in its efforts, focusing on the elimination of health and educational disparities. The council shall consult and explore opportunities for collaboration with the state health care authority's wellness works program, with the University of Washington center for health promotion, the center for public health nutrition, the Puget Sound health alliance, the governor's coordinating council on health disparities, and other groups in its efforts.
     (7) The council shall submit a biennial report to the legislature on the progress of the local school health advisory councils, coordinated school health councils established according to this act, and of its own activities by December of each year beginning in 2009.