ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Healthy Choice

In an act of political courage, the Santa Ana Unified School District’s Board of Education defied the naysayers and approved a controversial plan to establish the first mobile health clinic for elementary pupils in any Orange County school district.

It was not easy. The board had to resist strong lobbying from opponents who said such a clinic would pave the way for school-based abortion referrals and for the distribution of birth-control devices.

The board deftly removed reproductive issues from consideration by saying staff members must avoid family-planning issues, and it deflected complaints that the district was overstepping its bounds.

The board recognizes that unhealthy students cannot be expected to learn much. The new clinic, to be funded by outside sources, will concentrate on seven needy schools in eastern and central Santa Ana.

The district has in fact been out in front on this important issue for some time. It held health screenings last year at two elementary schools and took the right follow-up initiative when it found that 88% of first- and fourth-grade pupils examined had untreated health problems.

With the controversy raging all around him, school board President Sal Mendoza made this important observation: “Education cannot continue with a traditional way of doing business. . . . We have to deal with the reality of what’s out there.”

The board’s decision was an exercise in enlightened local leadership, which is the very thing that public officials are elected to demonstrate.