Students in the Iola school district will be able to get health care at school next year.
On a split 4-3 vote, the USD 257 board approved a plan with Community Health Center of Southeast Kansas to set up a clinic at the new Iola Elementary School.
The clinic will provide school-based services at no charge to families. CHC-SEK will provide two nurses to the district, as well as health care providers and other staff who can perform most types of basic health exams and prescribe medications.
School board members took issue with some parts of the proposal, specifically part of the plan that would allow parents to also visit the clinic.
The new elementary school is designed with safety in mind, Board President Dan Willis said. And coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, the district still wants to limit public access to the schools. He and board member Tony Leavitt said they were concerned about adults, especially those who might be ill, walking into the building.
“With the additional focus on security, I think we need to be real cautious before we go down that direction,” Leavitt said.
Board member Jennifer Taylor was concerned about part of the proposal that asks the district to advertise the clinic’s services.
“I would have a hard time advertising that,” she said.
The district can design the program in a way that best suits their needs, Ashley Hooper and Dan Duling, representing CHC-SEK, said. Mostly, adults who would come to the clinic would be parents who were there while their child was undergoing a checkup, Hooper said.
Andy Gotlobb, who will be the principal at the elementary school, said the clinic’s location would be near the main entrance, so adults would still have limited access inside the building.
“I definitely support it. I think it’s a great thing for our families,” Gottlob said.
He pointed to other health care programs already in existence, such as a nursing program with CHC-SEK and mental health support through the Southeast Kansas Mental Health Center.
Board member John Wilson said he was willing to try the program and see how it works.
Taylor also wanted to give other health care entities a chance to submit proposals.
Superintendent Stacey Fager said he had notified other providers.
CHC-SEK’s proposal is made possible by a federal grant. Because of that, they were on a tight deadline for approval. Duling suggested the district try their plan for a year at no cost — actually, it would save the district $90,000 because the cost of nurses would be included — and re-evaluate next year.
