School health program decline likely if funds lost
By Dwight Otwell Editor

Community planning is needed to prevent the Cherokee County School system from losing five to six years worth of progress in health related issues and programs.

Sue Lynn Ledford Thursday presented a school health update to the school board.

"We need to bring our community together now to plan for 2009 when these funds end," she said.

Funds for school nurses are expected to take a sharp decline in 2009. She suggested that a portion of savings on Medicaid costs be designated for school health costs. The state is gradually taking over the county's burden of Medicaid expenses.

Ledford urged school board members and educators to attend the School Health Council Safety Committee and Council of One Accord meetings.

Ledford said health screening is provided for every student from Pre-K to 12th grade. Each school now has a nurse and a counselor. No school nurse now serves more than two schools. From 1995 to 2007 the number of school nurses in the county school system has increased to less than one to over nine.

Estimates of student health concerns are as follows: number with asthma 400; diabetes 25 to 30; allergies requiring emergency medication 75 to 100; cardiac conditions 10 to 15; medication management over 500.

The teen pregnancy rate from 1995 to 2006 was reduced from nearly 120 to less than 60, Ledford said. This was done through an abstinence only policy by education.

"We were recognized last year at the state level for the most improvement," she said.

School Board member Dr. Brian Mitchell said that information recently indicated that teen pregnancy rates have risen. Ledford said it probably wasn't a significant rise but was probably due to discontinuation or lessening of some of the school health programs. She said they offer abstinence programs at elementary and middle schools during the day but they aren't allowed to have the program at every school.

Mitchell said that national experts say the drop in teen pregnancy isn't due to use of abstinence only programs but due to supplying condoms.

"We've taught from an abstinence only perspective," Ledford said. "Within this county, we reduced our pregnancy rate by more than half."

A school nurse pointed out that education about sexually transmitted diseases is also offered as it is a fact that STDs are on the rise.

She pointed out that 96 percent of funds for school health programs come from sources other than the school board. She noted that 100 inappropriate emergency room visits costs the county between $75,000 and $250,000 a year. School nurses help prevent inappropriate ER visits and save the county thousands of dollars a year, Ledford said.

The number one reason for attendance and truancy issues is poor grades, she said. Poor grades come about because of health and family issues, she said.

"Early intervention is the only thing that will make a difference," she said.