Board hears plan for Community Schools hires, mobile clinics and summer kickoff

Dr. Wheeler told the Los Banos Unified School District board that staff have hired 14 Community School liaisons and a Family Resource Center supervisor and outlined a set of community-facing activities to begin this spring and summer.

The Community Schools steering team visited Lancaster to study a similar model and will adapt practices for Los Banos, Wheeler said. The district held its first Community Schools advisory meeting on March 6 and plans to place liaisons at school sites with principal input.

Early events listed by Wheeler include pilot family science labs at two sites in late April, a free MoneyWise family financial workshop on April 15 (in partnership with Merced County and the Merced School Employees Credit Union), mobile mental-health clinics run by La Familia, and mobile vaccine clinics coordinated with Camarena beginning in April and continuing into the summer. A larger health, wellness and summer-learning fair (the "Summer Kickoff") is planned for May 31 with about 30 vendors; the location will be announced once confirmed.

Wheeler said staff will use ParentSquare, the district's Community Schools web page and social media for outreach and will rely on the newly hired liaisons for door-to-door and phone outreach. She added that the program team will attend several conferences to develop the liaisons' skills and sustain the initiative.

"We're still getting the Family Resource Center and liaisons onboarded," Wheeler said, "but we are able to start bringing in events and activities so we are going to have science family classes at two school sites at the end of April." She noted some dates and partners are still being finalized.

The board did not vote on the hiring in open session; the hires are included on the consent calendar pending formal approval.