The Health bulletin [serial] - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

6 The Health Bulletin September, 1951tion. Upon request of the State Boardof Education, supported by the StateBoard of Health, the 1949 General Assemblyappropriated for school health$550,000 for each year of the bienniumto the State Board of Education to Deused as grants in aid to city and countyschool administrative units.The 1949 General Assembly also increasedthe appropriation to the StateBoard of Health and thus enabled thisDepartment to earmark an amountequal to 40(J per pupil to be allocated tolocal health departments.These appropriations have made itpossible for the State Department ofPublic Instruction and the State Boardof Health, with the School Health CoordinatingService serving as the administrativeunit for both agencies, tomake still greater progress in developingwhat may truly be called a "JointSchool Health Program" involving theactive cooperation of many agencies,organizations, and individuals.In order to develop a sound schoolhealth program utilizing all of the resourcesavailable the two state agenciesagreed to require joint planning andbudgeting on the part of school superintendentsand health officers beforeapproval of budgets. This has resultednot only in planning the expenditureof school health funds but has resultedin cooperation in the wise use of thetime of health department personnelmost of whom spend some time workingin schools or with school personnel.The extent to which the local superintendentand health officer havebrought others in on the planning hasvaried considerably and the exact mannerin which the several agencies andorganizations helped in the planningand carrying out the school programshave also varied to meet the needs ofthe groups concerned.Ten Regional School Health Conferenceswere held in September last yearthe chief purposes of which were:1. To promote joint planning.2. To interpret the school healthprograms to those invited to attend.3. To stimulate more cooperation andteam work by the various groupsconcerned with school health.These Regional Health Conferenceswere sponsored by the State AdvisorySchool Health Committee composed ofrepresentatives of the several divisionsof the State Board of Health and theState Department of Public Instructionhaving some part in the total healthprogram and a representative of themedical and dental societies, the WelfareDepartment and the North CarolinaCongress of Parents and Teachers.Incidentally, it should be pointed outthat the organization of this committeewas a forward step in developing bettercooperation and understanding on thepart of those working in State agenciesand organizations.No attempt will be made to reportthe discussions and all the conclusionsreached at the above mentioned RegionalSchool Health Conferences buta few conclusions pertinent to the subjectof this article are:1. That joint planning is conduciveto better understanding.2. That there is better cooperation onthe part of those who help carryon the various phases of the schoolhealth program when they, in oneway or another, participate in theplanning.3. That better programs can beachieved when there is real understandingand cooperation.The progress made in the schoolhealth program during the past twoyears is in itself a demonstration ofwhat can be achieved through cooperation.In some phases of the health programprogress can be observed but cannotbe stated in measurable terms. Forexample, improvement in the healthinstruction program cannot be measuredover a short period of time instatistical terms.However, in the matter of finding andcorrecting defects of childen much canbe noted. Reports sent in to the SchoolHealth Coordinating Service indicatethat thousands of chronic remediabledefects of children have been foundand corrected. For children of parentsunable to pay for such services schoolhealth funds have been used. Voluntary