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Public hearing: supporters tell House Education Committee community schools could reduce absenteeism and coordinate services
Summary
Testimony on HB 3941 described full-service community schools as a coordination model for education, health and social services; proponents urged the committee to pass a grant program that would fund site coordinators and build statewide infrastructure.
Salem — Supporters of House Bill 3,941 told the House Education Committee on March 31 that a statewide community schools grant program could reduce chronic absenteeism and better coordinate services for students and families.
In a public hearing that drew a multi-stakeholder panel, witnesses described community schools as an established strategy that places a community school coordinator or partner at the center of a school’s network of services. Sarah Arbuckle, chief of staff to Rep. Paul Winn, read the lead sponsor’s testimony, citing Oregon’s chronic absenteeism rate and research findings: "Community schools reduce absenteeism by 20 to 30% in 1 year," she said, and argued HB 3,941 would "reimagine public education as a system that supports the whole child so no student falls through the cracks." (Arbuckle was reading Representative Winn's testimony for the record.)
Krista Rowland of the National Coalition for Community…
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