Ohio Healthy School Council Facilitator Services
PROJECT BACKGROUND
Through the CDC funding opportunity "lmproving Health and Educational Outcomes of Young
People," the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) is partnering with the Ohio Department of
Health (ODHI on a five year project to provide tools and technical assistance to school
administrators and educators in local districts that promote safe and supportive learning
environments. This school health initiative will support professional development, encourage
community collaboration, assist with program implementation and influence health policy across
the state and in local districts. ODE will work with key stakeholders representing public education,
public health, communitybased organizations, community leaders, parents and students to
develop and implement a strategic plan for coordinated and effective activities to address
comprehensive school-age health in Ohio. Through cross agency partnership between education
and health agencies, Ohio will provide comprehensive health recommendations that address
physical activity, nutrition, tobacco use and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention.
The ODE and ODH collectively can build the support systems to help local education agencies (lEA)
meet the health needs of students and their families. One way to build this support is to build a
state-level infrastructure that brings education and health agencies together to share resources
and coordinate efforts of the larger community interested in improving the health of students
through the Council.
Over the last decade, school health and wellness policy and program decisions have been driven by
external organizations and legislators who are dedicated to improving the health and wellness of
Ohio's children. While the intentions behind these actions were good, many of these decisions
were made without input from LEA's or ODE and did not mesh with how schools operated nor were
they consistently enforced across the state therefore did not impact health behavior outcomes as
intended. The goal of the Council would be to frame all issues through educational perspectives
and provide scientifically-sound, age and culturally appropriate, data-based information and
recommendations to the Superintendent of Public Instruction regarding school health and wellness
issues that support learning and promote achievement for all Ohio's students.
The Council will bring together leaders in school health policy, programs and research to provide a
systematic process to:
Convey a clear vision of the role of school heatth and wellness program in improving the
health and academic achievement of students.
Develop statewide consensus on key issues related to school health and wellness
programs and policies.
Influence and/or propose new and refined state policies.
Showcase effective and innovative coordinated school health programs for multiple audiences.
The Council will give ODE an opportunity to provide input regarding key school health initiatives by
better positioning the agency in the center of decision making to ensure that the state's school
health and wellness policies, programs, and services are comprehensive and sustainable for LEA's
to effectively promote the intellectual, physical, emotional, social, and civic responsibility of all
students and staff. We envision the role of the Vendor to include three main functions:
Coordinating with the ODE in convening the Council's working committees.
Assist in identifying priorities for the Council.
Providing technical assistance to the Council's ensuring that the working committees
develop priorities, formulate recommendations, and present recommendations to the
Council for consideration.
