Friday Churn: Health center dollars

What’s churning:

Aurora Public Schools is in line to receive a $475,000 federal grant to expand and modernize its school-based health centers. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the grant Thursday. The Affordable Care Act grant to APS was part of $14 million given to 45 school-based health centers in 29 states with the aim of expanding capacity and modernizing facilities. The grants will allow for the treatment of an estimated additional 53,000 children nationwide, according to the news release from the department.

“We currently operate our two clinics out of classrooms, so this grant will allow us some security in knowing that we have our own site on campus, that won’t be affected by enrollment changes. The grant will also allow us to expand our accessibility because we can now continue to provide services during school breaks and holidays,” said Mary Beth Rensberger, director of health services at Aurora Public Schools.

School-based health centers operate on or near school grounds, serve students whose access to care is limited and provide primary care, mental health care, substance abuse counseling, case management, dental health, nutrition education, health education and health promotion activities. Read more here.

What’s on tap:

Douglas County school board members today begin a two-day retreat in which they’re scheduled to discuss the recent board elections, the district’s budget after voters rejected an increase in operating and building dollars, the upcoming legislative session and board priorities for the year. Last year’s retreat featured one of the board’s first detailed public discussions of vouchers. Today’s session is set to start at 2 p.m. but first on the agenda is a two-hour closed session so the public can’t listen in until 4:35 p.m. Tomorrow’s session similarly begins at 8 a.m. but doesn’t open to the public until 11:35 a.m. It’s all at the Golf Club at Bear Dance, 6630 Bear Dance Road, in Larkspur. Agenda

Good reads from elsewhere:

Monte Vista School District board members are keeping an eye on Neenan Co. and its work on Monte Vista High School and the Bill Metz Elementary. A third-party structural review is being completed by the Fort Collins-based firm after significant problems surfaced at Meeker Elementary School. Story

Earlier this week, the Colorado Department of Education released accreditation data and related ratings under its new accountability system. Aurora Public Schools officials combed the data for answers and meaning. Story

Should there be a cut-off temperature for outdoor recess? It’s a topic in the Fort Collins school district. The cutoff currently “varies,” depending on wind and ground conditions, between 10 and 20 degrees. Story