AOS 93 and RSU 2 are among 31 Maine school districts that will lose their school health coordinators as a result of cuts to a state program.
The districts, also known as the Central Lincoln County School System and Kennebec Intra-District Schools, or KIDS, include eight towns in Lincoln County.
The legislature, voting along party lines, approved $2.8 million in cuts to Healthy Maine Partnerships, which funded the coordinators’ positions, in May.
The Fund for a Healthy Maine, created by the legislature in 1999 to receive and disburse Maine’s annual tobacco settlement payments, funds Healthy Maine Partnerships, which, in turn, funds the coordinators’ positions.
Jamie Martin was the KIDS’ school health coordinator until June 30. She will continue to serve the district as a physical education teacher, KIDS Superintendent Virgel Hammonds said.
During her tenure with the district, Martin developed a “Walking School Bus” program, wherein students would gather at one location and walk along their community’s sidewalks to school.
Hammonds said it wasn’t unusual “to see 200 kids walking together to school.”
Martin also strove to ensure the availability of healthy choices at every meal, Hammonds said.
She applied for and received a number of small grants for equipment and supplies and worked on stress-coping strategies with district staff.
“It’ll be a great loss to us – Jamie in that position,” Hammonds said. The district was excited to be able to retain her as a teacher. “Not many other school health coordinators have that opportunity, unfortunately,” Hammonds said.
He said he hopes the ideas and structures Martin put into place will remain, but “it’s safe to say we can expect to lose some of that momentum,” he said.
KIDS includes the Lincoln County town of Dresden, as well as Farmingdale, Hallowell, Monmouth and Richmond.
Rep. Les Fossel, R-Alna, represents Dresden in the House of Representatives.
The May budget vote forced Republicans to make painful decisions in an attempt to balance the budget, Fossel said.
“The priority was to make sure nobody’s health was immediately threatened,” he said.
If, for example, the legislature had to choose between providing insulin to a diabetic and fully funding health education programs like the school health coordinators, they chose the insulin, Fossel said.
Fossel said most states and many school districts in Maine don’t have school health coordinators.
He said he would have preferred a different approach. He sponsored a bill that would have created a joint committee on health care costs. The bill passed, but the legislative council decided not to fund it.
“We should have looked at health care and how to fund costs overall,” he said. He said he would introduce the bill again if elected to the Senate.
Despite the cuts to Healthy Maine Partnerships and other programs, the legislation still fell short of its goal, Fossel said, as the state owes hundreds of millions of dollars to Maine hospitals.
“We chose not to pay that money and to pretend we didn’t owe that money,” Fossel said.
“Do we have a balanced budget? No, we don’t,” he said. “It’s a fiction, but we’re coming closer to meeting our financial responsibilities.”
Kolleen Cass was the school health coordinator for the Central Lincoln County School System, where she works out of Nobleboro Central School.
Superintendent Steve Bailey was unavailable for comment. Cass did not respond to an e-mailed interview request.
The district might have a chance to retain the position, however. Youth Promise Executive Director Mary Trescot said she is working with Lincoln County Healthcare on a grant to fund the position.
The funds for AOS 93’s school health coordinator came through Youth Promise, which acts as the fiscal agent for Healthy Lincoln County, a Healthy Maine Partnership.
Trescot said Youth Promise received approximately $67,000 to fund the school health coordinator position last year, which it passed on to the district.
AOS 93 includes Bremen, Bristol, Damariscotta, Jefferson, Newcastle, Nobleboro and South Bristol.