The Virginia Beach School Health Advisory Board includes parents, students, health professionals, educators, representatives from community agencies, the School Board and institutions of higher education
Meetings
The meeting dates for the 2012-2013 school year are September 26, 2012, December 12, 2012, February 20, 2013 and May 1, 2013 at 9 a.m. at the Laskin Road Annex, 1413 Laskin Road, Room 25.
Membership
Our membership is turned over year-by-year, with members committing to a two-year commitment. Members have the option of renewing membership up to six years. The board is governed by local School Board Policy 7-27.
Activities, Achievements and Areas of Interest
- Clinic assistants were added based on a school's student population and students' needs for skilled care (the severity index).
- A new reporting form was designed to meet the need of the Office of Safety and Loss Control and the school division's insurance carrier.
- A brochure on how to properly carry backpacks was designed.
- Currently there are AEDs in all high schools and some elementary and middle schools.
- Suggestions and recommendations have included offering healthy, nutritious snacks at classroom events and school celebrations, encouraging exercise programs, evaluating the presence of and the access to vending machines, looking at the selections in vending machines, teaching students the need to look at their food choices, publishing "tidbits" of educational, nutritional information in school-to-family newsletters and moving to non-food fund raisers.
- Student wellness policy (Policy 5-58) was adopted by the School Board.
- The board reviewed the protocol in place and agreed that it is a comprehensive and safe approach to ensuring the safety and health of students.
- At the outset of each school year, the requirement to have two persons at each site trained in CPR and first aid as well as two persons trained in assisting with the administration of glucagon and insulin are addressed at each school site by the registered nurse and the building principal. By the end of September, the names of the trained persons, other than the nurses themselves, are provided to the Office Student Leadership.
- Representatives from the school division participated in the development of a citywide plan to address a pandemic flu outbreak, and the specific role of the schools in the case of an outbreak.
- The school division extends to its employees a comprehensive and extensive wellness program, along with access to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
Comprehensive School Health Program includes the following:
- Student Health Services On-Site
- Nutrition
- Physical Education Health Education
- Safe Environment
- Counseling and Psychological Resources
- Staff Wellness
- Integration of Community Resources
VBCPS Contact
Mary Shaw, Chairperson, and Coordinator of Health Services
mary.shaw@vbschools.com
