Coordinated School Health Program eliminated

For months now, we have known that Maine’s budget woes would impact community health programs. And we’ve tried to wait patiently to see how the 33 percent cuts would impact Healthy Oxford Hills, the local Healthy Maine Partnership (HMP) that is a project of Stephens Memorial Hospital.

A few days ago, we got the first indication and it was a shocker. The Coordinated School Health Program that funds 31 School Health Coordinators all across Maine is being eliminated. Community and school programs are integrated with blended funding through the HMPs. We all expected to share in reduced funding, but no one expected school health programs would be eliminated.

In the Oxford Hills, Stephens Memorial Hospital and Oxford Hills Schools (and earlier also Buckfield schools) worked side by side to improve student and community health. This was a wonderful partnership of the two largest institutions in our area.

For the last 10 years, Oxford Hills Schools have seen positive results, including:

• Decreased rates of smoking and marijuana use
• Decreased binge drinking
• Decreased bullying
• Increased fruit and vegetable consumption
• Increased physical activity at the Middle School

We are incredibly fortunate to have Pat Carson as our school health coordinator. For the last four years, Pat has made incredible progress in getting kids active, growing food and eating better. He recently was chosen as Maine’s recipient of the 2012 Presidential Fitness Leadership Award.

He has helped obtain $3.4 million worth of federal and foundation grants like the $1.3 Physical Education Program award that have added programs, fitness equipment and projects like Roberts Farm.

At a time when SAD 17 taxpayers have just increased their local share by 6 percent on a budget that only increased 1.48 percent, when elementary class sizes have grown to 28 and the school has lost 46 positions, and when our schools still have one of the highest obesity rates in Oxford County and the State, we can not afford to eliminate the Coordinated School Health Program. It is unfair and shortsighted to make kids suffer by cutting the program that is proven to help improve their health.

Ken Morse is partnership director of Healthy Oxford Hills, the local Healthy Maine Partnership and a project of Stephens Memorial Hospital