PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles School Board plans to vote next Thursday on whether to work with the North Olympic Healthcare Network to have a school-based health center at Port Angeles High School.
The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Central Services Building, 216 E. Fourth St.
Angie Gooding, an eighth-grade teacher at Stevens Middle School and founder of Port Angeles Citizen Action Network (PA CAN), said she is feeling confident the board will approve the health center.
“I have a feeling people are very supportive of our youth and that they have a need,” she said. “The community support is there.”
The health center would offer care for acute health conditions and injuries, care for common health problems, access to immunizations, sexual health education, tobacco and drug use prevention, preventive care such as sports physicals, behavioral health care and oral health care, among others.
The health center would not prescribe opioids.
Proponents say on-campus health clinics improve student learning, test scores, graduation rates and overall health.
Opponents have raised concerns about the provision of reproductive and mental health services.
NOHN Chief Medical Officer Dr. Katrina Weller has said that though reproductive health wouldn’t be the health center’s focus, NOHN would follow state law and provide contraceptive services for patients and possibly make referrals for abortion.
During the May 25 PASD board meeting, 16 people spoke in favor of the proposal and three spoke against.
Advocates had originally asked the school district to earmark $5,000 annually to fund capital expenses for the health center.
The current proposal doesn’t include any funding from the district. Gooding said that instead, the health center would rely on donations and grants.
Board President Dr. Joshua Jones, Vice President Sarah Methner and board member Sandy Long said this week they support the idea of a health center at Port Angeles High School.
Jones and Long each said they wanted to see exactly what they’re being asked to approve before saying how they would vote.
“I’m always for good quality health care for our kids,” Jones said. “I am for the idea of improving access for our kids.
“I just don’t see why we can’t do that here.”
Methner said she is “100 percent” in support of a school-based health center.
Long said she supports health care for every adolescent, especially for children who otherwise might not have easy access to health care.
“I will advocate for their health, whether it’s here or someplace else,” she said.
School board Director Susan Shotthafer opposes the health center, her primary concern being that it would distribute contraceptives to teenager, she said.
“There might not be many students prescribed these drugs, but everything I’ve looked at says they are harmful [physically],” she said. “We should be teaching abstinence because the risk of taking contraceptives is harmful.”
Shotthafer said she wants to have healthy students in the school district and that she would like to see a plan that would help kids who don’t have easy access to health care.
The Clallam County commissioners approved a letter this week endorsing the school-based health clinic.
Gooding said she has been grateful that discussions about the proposed health center have been civil and said it’s clear people on both sides of the issue want what’s best for the kids.
“I know they care about the kids. We just don’t see eye-to-eye with the specifics,” she said. “I know they are watching out for their best interests.”
Gooding said she sees a school-based health center as part of the community’s larger conversation about the drug epidemic and what can be done to help prevent people from getting addicted in the first place.
“Prevention is one of the main things that needs to happen to get a handle on the drug issue in town,” she said. “This is a great way to reach a whole lot of people.”
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
