The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools Board of Education approved a new contract addendum with the School Health Alliance during their meeting on Tuesday night.
WS/FCS has worked with SHA since 1997 and currently has Comprehensive Centers on seven of the district’s campuses. These clinics provide medical, mental health, and nutritional services to students at that school and the surrounding areas. SHA also serves seven more schools with their mobile unit, and 16 schools beyond those receive behavioral health services from the program.
WS/FCS and SHA requested that the board members approve another Comprehensive Center at Old Town Elementary School. An appropriate space has already been identified and inspected, and fundraising efforts to support the project are underway.
This school year alone, SHA has provided 2,951 students and 20 employees with behavioral health services, as well as 1,137 students and six employees with medical services. Those services go a long way towards removing external barriers that hamper success in the classroom. The board members were broadly supportive of SHA’s mission and looked forward to seeing their services expand.
“As a former administrator who hosted a site, it was phenomenal to have you day in and day out at that site to help our students, and also our students’ parents who walked in after 3:30 or 4 o’clock,” Board Member Richard Watts said of SHA. “Thank you for all that you do.”
Also on the board’s agenda for the evening were:
- A performance by the North Forsyth High School brass quintet
- Recognitions for the Reagan High School JROTC’s state champion and national runner-up rifle competition season, Magnet Schools of America Award winners, state bonuses for teachers who rank in the top 25% for reading EOG scores, and the district’s Sustained Professional Purchasing Award
- Updates to the district’s Healthful Living Standards
- Approval of a University Instructors, LLC Contract for Winston-Salem Christian School, a contract with REPAY to manage automatic payments, and several budgetary and policy revisions
- Extensive discussion of fiscal realignment measures, including potential cuts to positions, that are being considered for the 2025-26 school year, more information on which can be found here
The Board of Education will meet again on Tuesday, April 8 at 6:30 pm.