Overview
Every school district in Texas is required to establish a School Health Advisory Council. The council “assists the district in ensuring that local community values are reflected in the district’s health education instruction.” The eight components of coordinated school health are:
-
Health education
-
Nutrition services
-
Health services
-
Healthy and safe school environment
-
Counseling and mental health services
-
Staff wellness promotion
-
Parent and community involvement
A School Health Advisory Council (SHAC) is a group of individuals representing segments of the community, appointed by the school district to serve at the district level, to provide advice to the district on coordinated school health programming and its impact on student health and learning. The council meets four (4) times a year.
SHACs provide an efficient, effective structure for creating and implementing age-appropriate, sequential health education programs, and early intervention and prevention strategies that can easily be supported by local families and community stakeholders.
Benefits of Having a SHAC
Addressing the health needs of students through the work of the SHAC, helps meet district performance goals and alleviates financial constraints.
SHACs play an important role in communicating the connection between health and learning to school administrators, parents and community stakeholders.
SHACs can help parents and community stakeholders reinforce the health knowledge and skills children need to be healthy for a lifetime.
Every independent school system is required by law to have a School District Health Advisory Council; of which the majority of members must be parents who are not employed by the school district. Title 2, Chapter 28, Section 28.004 of the Texas Education Code for the specifics of this mandate.
Communications from Citizens
The public may register to address the School Health Advisory Council during scheduled meetings. Persons who wish to participate in this portion of the meeting must sign up with the Assistant Superintendent of Student Services and Facilities, who is officed in the Gary S. Jones Administration Building at 5228 Ohio Garden Road, Fort Worth, Texas 76114, 817-252-2006, no later than 4:00 p.m. on the day prior to scheduled SHAC meeting and shall indicate on the district's Communications from Citizens form the topic about which they wish to speak. No presentation may exceed three minutes. (BED LOCAL Policy)