BILL REQ. #: H-4208.1
State of Washington | 60th Legislature | 2008 Regular Session |
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.