Sun editorial:

Clinic would be vital asset

Plan for elementary school health center on hold pending permit decision

Friday, Nov. 6, 2009 | 2:07 a.m.

A health clinic planned for Elaine Wynn Elementary School is meeting opposition from several of the school’s neighbors, who learned about the clinic only after a groundbreaking ceremony had taken place.

The neighbors, including one who described the clinic as a laudable project, say they should have been given an opportunity to comment and ask questions.

This point was conceded by School Board Vice President Carolyn Edwards, who has apologized to the neighbors.

Nevertheless, the clinic plan is on hold until the School District can determine whether a special-use permit is required.

We hope this is a short-lived controversy.

School-based clinics date to the early 1970s and became a strong national trend in the mid-1990s. The clinics, answering a pressing social need, are now common in rural and urban areas across the country.

As would be the case at Wynn, the clinics are almost always operated by nonprofit health care groups with little cost to taxpayers.

Stories by Las Vegas Sun reporter Emily Richmond have included information about the many services clinics provide. There have been cases locally — six clinics operate within the Clark County School District — where staff members have found students with potentially life-threatening illnesses that could have gone untreated.

The National School Boards Association has written why educators value health care clinics: “Healthy students are better learners.”

With a clinic on campus, students have better attendance, the association wrote, and they have a much better chance of avoiding the pitfalls associated with youth. “Clinics can help reduce teen pregnancy, smoking and alcohol use,” the association says, adding that clinics contribute to a reduction of hospitalizations among students.

Ideally a student’s health would be a parental responsibility, but national statistics show that overwhelming numbers of children in public schools come from homes unable to provide adequate medical care.

We support school-based clinics because they give students a better chance to succeed.

Discussion: 7 comments so far…

By StanG

11/6/09 at 2:39 a.m.

Suggest removal

The government is going to force kids to be healthy? That's a clear violation of parental rights.
By jlb101

11/6/09 at 10:06 a.m.

Suggest removal

Maybe the schools should try teaching the students to read, write, and do some basic arithmetic instead of all the other garbage they try to do. It is the responsibility of the parent to provide healthcare not me the taxpayer.
By StanG

11/6/09 at 1:02 p.m.

Suggest removal

It's clear jlb101 needed to pay more attention back when he was in grade school. His reading comprehension isn't up to snuff (as he might say).
"As would be the case at Wynn, the clinics are almost always operated by nonprofit health care groups with little cost to taxpayers." Perhaps someone else could put it in simpler words so he might grasp the meaning of that complex sentence.
By jlb101

11/6/09 at 4:38 p.m.

Suggest removal

StanG-I don't give a damned who is running the clinics, most of these "non profits" are still freeloading off of taxpayer dollars ( Money I am forced to unwillingly pay) . The schools are doing nothing but overpaying teachers and administrators to do nothing.

If you were not such a simple minded fool you might realize what a scam the education establishment is pulling on the taxpayer.
By moogie

11/6/09 at 7:34 p.m.

Suggest removal

I think jlb101 and his merry band of troll friends, you know that usual bunch of idiots who post hate in every comment board, should go buy an island somewhere and leave the rest of us alone.

Half of my property taxes go to the schools, which I'm not happy about, but I pay them without complaint because it's the correct thing to do in a civilized society. Just think, these kids will someday be wiping drool and changing your diapers when you're older and even crankier, jlb101. Let's hope by that time they are healthy enough and educated enough to know which end is which, don't you agree?

It SHOULD be the parents' primary responsibility to take care of their spawn, or quit breeding altogether. However, as long as the kids are already here, they need to be kept healthy and educated. We don't need any more stupid people who can't find their butts with both hands in a phone booth, i.e. republican'ts. If you simple minded fools can't handle living in a civilized society, you should all pack up and leave. What a gift to the rest of us!
By CitizenAndVoter

11/14/09 at 12:19 p.m.

Suggest removal

Your readers need to know the real issues at play with this clinic. I live in the neighborhood and have been involved with this issue.

The hard work of Communities in Schools is sorely needed. In fact, it should be expanded and funded more fully. Keeping kids healthy and, therefore, focused and in school is an absolute necessity. The neighborhood surrounding Elaine Wynn Elementary enthusiastically applauds the work & mission of CIS.

The neighborhood is staunchly PRO clinic but AGAINST this location because it simply doesn't make sense. The location on Coley Ave is highly inconvenient to the very children & families it alleges to serve. For example, it offers no public transportation access which is the primary transportation mode for the majority of intended users, the latest proposal offers only 7 parking spaces for those who drive, and the nearest drug store to fill prescriptions written by clinic staff is a mile away.

There have been no traffic or neighborhood impact studies done on the proposed site, at least none publicly available. And the proposed access on Coley Avenue on the South side of Wynn Elementary is not a safe traffic zone especially during school drop-off and pick-up times.

It is only common sense that the clinic should be located closest to the most students it can serve, not on the far Southwest edge of the service area. Other sites such as Cashman or Clark can provide the most convenient, superior public access, parking & location for the children it is meant to serve.

Meetings & discussions concerning the Wynn Elementary site were held on many occasions over 2 years by School Board members, School District officials, School Board Trustees, Communities in Schools and NAIOP (possibly more) yet NO minutes or records of these exist. In two years not a single member of the neighborhood was notified or offered any information. And now, in spite of repeatedly asking how and by whom it was decided that this is a wise or useful location, the proponents offer no specifics and remain largely mute. Why is that?

There are myriad other reasons why this clinic should not be built at Wynn Elementary, some smacking of the nepotism and good 'ol boy favoritism of the Erin Kenny era. And your readers should know that last Tuesday the Spring Valley Town Advisory Board voted to deny a Use permit for the clinic (based on facts, not emotion).

But putting all that aside, if a much-needed clinic is to be built, then why locate it on the far edge & miles away from the center of the intended service area? Why locate it in a place where it poses a real difficulty to reach for most of the children of the 6 schools it is intended to serve? And why locate it less than 3 blocks from another free clinic that is in the process of gaining funding, approvals and permits?

Locating this clinic at Wynn Elementary simply makes no sense. And it surely doesn't pass the smell test.

Regards.
Concerned Neighbor and Citizen Voter
By CitizenAndVoter

11/15/09 at 6:39 p.m.

Suggest removal

The proponents of the clinic, including Commissioner Susan Brager (a former School District Trustee and Board member), are now rushing approval of a permit and skipping the Planning Commission because their activities are legitimately being questioned by neighbors of Wynn Elementary. The proponents and the less informed are spinning the debate toward the emotional issue of helping children. They are also orchestrating a seemingly innocent "better to ask forgiveness than permission" spin, yet they stand mute when asked why Wynn Elementary was chosen and, more importantly, by whom. Consider just these few facts:

-- Members of the School Board and Trustees, school district employees, Communities in Schools, NAIOP and other parties have, by their own admission, met, discussed and planned this clinic for two years yet when formally requested by an attorney, the District replied that no records or minutes exist of these meetings and/or discussions.

-- In those two years, not a single citizen living in the neighborhood was notified or asked for input or response.

-- Last Tuesday night, the Spring Valley Town Advisory Board voted to DENY a use permit for this clinic.

-- The proponents offer no legitimate or compelling response to questions of why a facility aimed at students of low and middle-income families would be placed miles away from the vast majority of the intended recipients, a location that also offers no access to public transportation.

Bottom line: If you dig past the surface, it's difficult to conclude that this isn't more of the same cronyism and nepotism of the Erin Kenny era.

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