Statewide, there is one school nurse for every 2,410 students. The American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines from 2001 recommend staffing one nurse for every 750 students.

School nurses may be needed more now than ever, according to the article.

“Nurses can help develop protocols for handwashing, temperature checks, and mask-wearing to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. They can screen students and isolate those exhibiting coronavirus symptoms until they can be transported home,” according to author Paulette Cha. “Nurses can also serve as in-house health experts, providing accurate information about the pandemic to students, parents, and staff. And their ongoing work on chronic disease management can help children especially at risk of COVID-19 complications.”

The post, which includes a map showing student-to-nurse ratios for all counties, acknowledges that districts have struggled to hire nurses due to low pay and the complex logistics of traveling to multiple schools. Read the full article at https://bit.ly/3na8nbh.

“The pandemic makes it difficult for teachers to get the sex education training they need and for students to get the sex education they deserve, but Sex Ed To-Go makes it easy,” said Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest Director of Education Chrissy Cmorik, in a news release.

Sex Ed To-Go includes two separate portals. The first portal features courses tailored for teachers and other youth-serving professionals and includes supporting educational materials.

The second portal includes online courses designed specifically for students in middle school and above and includes comprehensive, medically-accurate information with age-appropriate language. Topics include anatomy and physiology, pregnancy prevention, sexually transmitted infections, how to access sexual and reproductive health care services in California, and how to use a condom.

Planned Parenthood’s Sex Ed To-Go was designed to meet the California Healthy Youth Act standards for sex education. The curriculum that Planned Parenthood provides has been proven to improve health outcomes for students including reducing the number of unintended pregnancies and the rate of sexually transmitted infections.

Planned Parenthood is a trusted source for sex education and has trained all teachers who provide sexuality education in San Diego Unified School District, the fifth largest school district in the nation. Planned Parenthood’s educators have years of experience working in rural communities, with refugees, in foster care and shelters and with charter schools.

Learn more about Sex Ed To-Go at planned.org/sexedtogo.

The Playbook purposefully examines three historically marginalized student groups: African American students, students with disabilities and English learners, and provides universal tools and resources throughout as a means to address the needs of all students.

“We have learned the way to develop the most effective, sustainable model of equity in education begins and continues with conversation,” said Santa Clara County Superintendent of Schools Mary Ann Dewan, in a news release. “With the Ways 2 Equity Playbook, we have an opportunity to address and respond to inequitable practices in our education system in a meaningful, deliberative way that will facilitate dialogue and improve communication, which is the only way we will continue to learn, understand and eliminate bias.”

The Ways 2 Equity Playbook is the culminating two-year project of the California Equity Performance and Improvement Program grant made possible by Assembly Bill 99, authored by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber. The grant is designed to create funding to promote equity in California’s public schools by building capacity within County Offices of Education, Local Educational Agencies and schools. To fulfill this effort, the SCCOE has partnered with several national equity organizations including the National Equity Project and Western Educational Equity Assistance Center, as well as several local school districts. Case studies highlighting the partnering school districts are featured in the Playbook.

Educators using the Ways 2 Equity Playbook have access to additional resources that can support implementation in classrooms. In keeping with the navigational metaphor, the Playbook features a series of “on-ramps” which allows users to approach the conversation and equity journey where it is applicable for them. Soft copies of the Playbook and more information about the CEPIP grant are available at http://www.inclusioncollaborative.org/cepip.aspx.

“These funds come at a critical time when the COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated the importance of respiratory and overall student health,” said County Superintendent Ted Alejandre.

More than 28,000 students will benefit from the grant. It will provide funding for prevention through curriculum, schoolwide events and student leadership advocates, family and community engagement, intervention strategies and smoking cessation resources.