School nurses, county rep. praise San Bernardino City Unified health services and new campus partnerships

Several school nurses and a county representative used the board's public comment period to praise San Bernardino City Unified School District's health services and professional-development support.

"My name is Jessica Andolan, and I'm here on behalf of Supervisor Joe Baca junior," a representative said, thanking the district for the county partnership on the Pacuma K-8 shade-structure project and offering a ceremonial check for the item later on the agenda.

Longtime district nurse Lynn Massey described recent vision-care work the district presented at a national conference: "As a result, follow-up care increased from 8 percent to 35 percent over the past 2 school years. 1,900 pairs of glasses have been provided to students," she said, framing the services as reducing barriers to learning.

Chandra Henson, a school nurse with nearly three decades in the district, said attending the National Association of School Nurses conference gave her new ideas to bring back to students and families. Jeanette Tupper Sheer also emphasized the value of school-based health centers and cited district participation in services such as Hazel Health telehealth: "We have 40% fewer health-related absences," she said, summarizing district data on reduced absences and improved student return-to-class rates after medical visits.

Board President (presiding officer) thanked the speakers and noted the district would consider any needed follow-up by staff. The public-comment block ended with trustees moving on to the evening's agenda items.

Why it matters: Trustees heard first-hand accounts of health services that district staff say are improving attendance and access to care. Those services underpin other agenda items later in the meeting, including a county funding agreement for a school shade-structure project that speakers had referenced.