Trustees to Apply for Healthy Start Grant
After debating the merits of a health program for indigent students and their families, Fullerton School District trustees have agreed to apply for a $400,000 state grant to implement it.
The Healthy Start grant, if awarded, would be used over the next three years to open a center at Richman Elementary School and expand current health and social services.
Darlene Dubeck, the district’s Healthy Start coordinator, said low-income families would be able to go to the center to find out about free and low-cost services such as medical care, vision screenings, after-school homework tutoring and health and safety education.
“The mission is to provide services so that students can learn and succeed academically,” Dubeck said.
The majority of the school board agreed.
Trustee Kim Guth opposed the program, saying it would provide a form of welfare.
“I don’t agree with increasing peoples’ dependence on the government for all their needs, and especially not at school,” she said.
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