Meeting: Montclair Health & Wellness Initiative Advisory Committee Meeting

Meeting: Montclair Health & Wellness Initiative Advisory Committee Meeting Date: October 27 2005 Attendance: See attached attendance sheet

Agenda Discussion Decision Follow-Up Action Item

Introductions Welcomed new attendees and went around the room with self-introductions. NA NA

Coordinated Diana Autin described the 8 components of a coordinated school health program: (1) NA NA School Health family/community involvement, (2) health education, (3) physical education (4) health Program services, (5) nutrition services, (6) counseling, psychological and social services, (7) healthy school environment, and (8) health promotion for staff.

New Website The H&W Initiative’s website, presently affiliated with the PTA Council website, is under The Advisory Work on the website will development. Bette Chamberlin showed some draft pages online. Committee should continue, with attention Attendees made the following suggestions for the website: have a given to the suggestions subcommittee to made. The website should - Include mission statement on home page advise on the be online before the next website. A sign up meeting in February - Include button on side for each aspect of the coordinated school health program sheet for website committee - Include links to partner websites from the advisory committee page members was circulated - Include information about H&W programs from the different schools

- Include useful links – to the various schools and other health-related websites (including Atlantichealth.org, which links to a teen health effects website)

- Include some of the websites listed in the H&W resource guide as direct links on the website

- Include district Code of Conduct

- Include NJEA health committee information (Nino LaStella (MEA) will coordinate

- Have buttons “for parents, teens, staff, partners, etc.

- Include teen clubs and activities related to H&W

1 Meeting: Montclair Health & Wellness Initiative Advisory Committee Meeting Date: October 27 2005 Attendance: See attached attendance sheet

- Include students in website activities (med bio class at MHS is being used as a focus group)

- Include bullying prevention information (highlights and under social emotional learning)

- Include an internal search engine to locate topics on the website

The website should provide information and a means of communication for parents, the community and possible funding sources. Dual links between the H&W website and partners’ websites will help make people aware of all websites.

H&W Mini The H&W Initiative provides grants of up to $1000 for each school ($2000 for the high NA Kathy Smith and Karen Grant school) as seed money for health and wellness activities in each school. Each school Straim will email school Program should have a health team (principal, nurse, PE teacher, student assistance counselor, PTA staff and liaisons about the H&W liaison) to meet, discuss priorities for the grant application and assign roles for the mini grant program and send application process. out packets to principals on 11/1/05 Applications will be sent to the principals on 11/1/05 Applications are due 1/13/06 Decisions will be made 2/17/05 and communicated thereafter

Strengthening Kathy Smith reported that the H&W Initiative is completing its fifth year of existence and NA Efforts to create a steering the first 5-year plan. It is time to revisit our goals and look forward to the next 5 years. The committee are underway Infrastructure plan is to create an executive steering committee to develop new goals and a new long- term plan.

Strengthening Each school should have a H&W committee comprising the principal, nurse, PE teacher, NA This topic should be H&W student assistance counselor and PTA H&W liaison which meets not only on the mini addressed at the H&W Committees grants but also on other health and wellness issue relating to the schools (including liaison meeting on 11/15 In schools activities related to a school health index (below).

School Health Index Through a grant from the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 5 elementary schools have NA The H&W Committee will completed a school health index. Each school assembled a team consisting of a nurse, try to provide an opportunity SAC, physical education teacher, health teacher, science teacher and principal. Each team for the other schools to went through the 8 modules for a comprehensive school health program, and came up with conduct a school health an action plan, including both school-based and district-based recommendations. If the index other schools have an opportunity to complete this index, it may be possible to set district –wide priorities that the H&W Initiative can then support.

EPI pen Students with severe food and other allergies need to have access to an epi-pen, to quickly NA NA policy administer needed medication. A group of parents worked with Dr. Scagliotti, head of pupil services, and the district to develop a new policy, which was passed by the Board of Education this fall. In accordance with the policy, Betty Strauss and the school nurses are making sure that people are trained in the use of epi pen and CPR in each school, and that extra epi-pen kits will be available. On bus runs with identified students, the bus drivers and aides are also receiving training. Training will also be provided to provide coverage at school sponsored programs outside of regular school hours. There is a “no food” policy on school buses, schools have instituted peanut free tables; Nishuane has a peanut-free class. Betty Straus asked parents to be patient as the district worked to implement what she described as a generous policy, which exceeds the state mandate for a “reasonable accommodation” for students’ special needs.

Safe Routes Bob Maclay, former H&W liaison from Mt. Hebron has helped Rand School obtain a NA NA to School grant form the NJ Department of Transportation to operate a pilot Safe Routes for Schools project. The project encourages the use of alternative forms of transportation (bus, bikes, walking) to get to school. Consultants are meeting with Rand representative this morning and afternoon (10/27) to identify current patterns of transportation to and from school.

Dental Care Betty Straus has been looking for pro bono dental care for children in need. She has been NA Betty Straus will continue to in contact with Mountainside Hospital’s dental clinic, which has agreed to see students in reach out to dentists to seek case of an emergency. Betty is reaching out to dentists to try to arrange for some pro bono pro bono medical care. care.

Bullying This summer, under the leadership of Terry Triggs Scales, teachers began to integrate Prevention elements of the bullying prevention curriculum into the academic curriculum at the N/A Joanne Aidala and Kathy Curriculum elementary, middle school and high school levels. The work is continuing this fall. These Smith will monitor progress Update proposed curricula must then be approved by the Department of Instruction, principals, of this process. School Reviews and the Board of Education.

Bullying This summer, twenty people, including parents, attended bullying prevention training. NA H&W will continue to offer Prevention This fall, community members, including YMCA after school staff, police officers, and training to interested people. Training members of the guidance departments will receive training. Parents will work in their Anyone interested in children’s schools to support bullying prevention. attending the NJ State Bar Bullying Prevention workshops have been scheduled on the following dates: Foundation training for Saturday, October 1 bullying prevention should Thursday, October 6 contact Joanne Aidala. Friday, November 4 Friday, December 2

Reporting The Healthy Adolescent Partnership (HAP) of the H&W Initiative is working with the NA HAP will monitor the Bullying district on procedures for teachers to report bullying incidents in order to create a record to development of a reporting Incidents assist in parent conferences and for data collection and eventual evaluation of the program. procedure

Consequences Bruce Dabney, assistant to the superintendent, is meeting with principals to develop a NA Joanne Aidala and Kathy for Bullying uniform rubric for consequences for bullying behavior. This rubric, once developed, Smith will monitor progress would need to be incorporated into school codes of conduct. School Reviews and the of this process. Board of Education would need to approve. .

District Sylvia Bryant, district parent coordinator, is planning a district parent conference with a NA Contact Sylvia Bryant (973- Parent dinner on March 31 and a conference with workshops and speakers on April 1, 2006. 509-4029) or Conference Help is needed to plan and present workshops [email protected] if you would like to be involved in some way.

Next Meeting Joanne Aidala reported that some people found the 8 am time to be inconvenient. She The 8 am meeting NA Dates: explained that the time was chosen to allow the nurses to come before school began. time will be There was a consensus from those present that the 8 am time was convenient. retained for the present February 9 June 1