SANTA ANA : School Board Feuds Over Health Van

A longstanding school board debate over a controversial student health van erupted into a full-scale verbal brawl following a presentation designed to put the issue to rest Tuesday night.

The fight pitted a lone member of the Santa Ana Unified School District against four other trustees and the superintendent.

Following the presentation aimed at quelling misconceptions about the program, Trustee Rosemarie Avila, who has opposed Healthy Tomorrows for years, assailed the program as inefficient and a threat to parents’ involvement in their children’s medical care.

Echoing comments made by several members of the community who spoke at previous meetings, she added that safeguards designed to ensure parental involvement and keep the program under board control are being undermined.

But trustees Robert W. Balen, Richard C. Hernandez, Audrey Yamagata-Noji and Sal Mendoza immediately blasted Avila’s objections as politically motivated and against the best interests of children.

“Regardless of the facts of the situation, you will continue to twist it to how you want to display it for your own cause,” Yamagata-Noji told Avila.

Later, Mendoza added: “If you can’t trust this staff, this community that is supporting our programs, you really have no business being on this board. Really, step down.”

Avila said school nurses could provide all the services children need, and that offering additional services through the health van would create a “dependent personality” in parents.

“I believe it usurps the parents’ role. I believe the community doesn’t want it and it will cause increased taxation (causing) parents to work three or four jobs to pay for health care provided at school sites,” she said.

The five-year, $775,000 program provides immunizations, physicals, counseling and referrals for children at risk from learning disabilities because of inadequate health care. More than 1,100 students have been seen through the program since April. A random check found that 88% of the students had untreated medical conditions.

The program is funded with city, state, local private, county and federal grants, said Lucinda Hundley, director of special education and health services. The program began several months ago.

The board approved the program in May, 1991, with several conditions, including that no district money be used to support the program, that it serve only students in kindergarten through fifth grade and that no family planning or birth control services be offered. Furthermore, they required that written parental consent be obtained before any treatment was provided.

The meeting heated up when Avila rejected repeated assurances from the district employees, doctors and social service officials who run the program that it would never violate those conditions.

“You’ve put a very nice show about how wonderful Healthy Tomorrows is, but you still haven’t addressed my concerns,” Avila said.

Supt. Rudy Castruita bristled at that comment and scolded her for ignoring facts presented earlier which showed the program meets the board guidelines, saying, “I don’t understand how much clearer this has to be.”

The argument ended after Mendoza said he would ensure the program would not be discussed by the board until the program’s one-year review. But Avila said she would bring it up every chance she could.