Orange Schools Accept Gift for Social Needs

Despite their commitment to remove social services from public schools, the Orange Unified School Board on Thursday narrowly accepted a grant to provide medical care for some low-income students.

But they vowed to draft a policy to scrutinize all future grants for services which the board contends the family should provide.

Four of seven board members voted to accept a $25,000 grant from the philanthropic Weingart Foundation for the “Heart to Heart” program at Lampson Elementary School in Garden Grove. The program offers free counseling to troubled children and families, medical and dental care, adult English and parenting classes and after-school recreation.

Although recognizing the community’s need for such services, most of the trustees have said public schools are in the business of educating students, not trying to solve social problems.

“My concern is that public education is becoming very socialized,” Trustee Maureen Aschoff, who voted against the grant, said before the meeting. “We are not only teaching academics, but becoming involved in all other aspects of a student’s life. . . . I don’t want our public schools to take over the job of our parents.”

But board members who said before the meeting that they were reluctant to accept the grant backed off after hearing pleas from parents, PTA officials and others involved in the program.

“If there is some philosophical disagreement you have, formalize a policy, but this is not a baby that should be thrown out with the bathwater,” said parent Kathy Moffat.

Some parents, district administrators and other community activists say the program is sorely needed in the impoverished neighborhoods served by the sprawling school district. At Lampson Elementary, for instance, about three-fourths of the school’s 900 students live in homes with incomes below the poverty level, according to the school.

*

About 300 children and parents take advantage of the Heart-to-Heart program each year. While some students simply learn how to care for their teeth and receive a free toothbrush, others get their immunizations, checkups and family counseling.

“I think it’s an outstanding program,” said Jane McCloud, the district’s coordinator of health services, adding that several other district schools had been considering offering similar services. “A lot of people really didn’t learn a lot about [preventive care] and don’t know how to make use of community resources, but they really want it and are hungry for it.”

The program began in 1991 through a $50,000 start-up grant from the state, but now relies solely on private funding. More than 30 community organizations and businesses now offer financial and other assistance, including the PacifiCare Foundation and the Soroptimist International of Orange. On Wednesday, the Orange Community Council of PTA’s, which represents 28 district schools, unanimously voted to support the Heart-to-Heart program.

“There was not one word spoken against it,” said Janice White, the council’s president.

The Weingart Foundation’s grant will help pay for a portable building to house a family resource center on the Lampson campus. It also will pay for a counselor.

Trustees have long denounced school officials acting as social workers. During last November’s election, Aschoff and fellow board member Bill Lewis promised voters they would see to it that schools focus almost exclusively on academics.

“I think that what bothers me about this program is that although it is privately funded and probably wonderful for these kids, I don’t like to see our names on it,” said Trustee Bill Lewis, who voted for the grant. He had asked if the program could take place off-campus, but was told by administrators that would be difficult.

Board President Martin Jacobson, who voted against the grant, had said he agreed “that students need to be well-fed, they need to be immunized and they need the medical health services everyone else gets. My problem is having these services provided on campus.”

John Ouellet, president of the Los Angeles-based Weingart Foundation, said the idea of a separate place on campus where children and families could receive private counseling appealed to the foundation.

Three-fourths “of the children at Lampson are living below poverty, and are in need of the type of services provided by the Heart-to-Heart center,” Ouellet said.