Six Steps for Setting Up a Successful School Health Advisory Council

With the passage of Senate Bill 19 in 2001, the Texas legislature made it mandatory for school districts to have a School Health Advisory Council (SHAC). The law (revised as Senate Bill 1357 in 2003) requires SHACs to review eight areas: health education, physical education and physical activity, nutrition services, parental involvement, school health services, counseling and guidance services, safe and healthy school environment and school employee wellness. The SHAC then makes recommendations to improve any deficiencies.

``SHACs are appointed by school boards and are advisory in nature,`` said Carey Dabney, who helped found the Austin ISD SHAC, one of the first and most successful councils in the state. ``Our power lies in our ability to collaborate, educate, persuade and assist in a volunteer capacity. We are truly a grassroots movement.``

Dabney offers the following six-step plan for setting up and running a SHAC.

1) Inform the administrators in your district that a SHAC is mandatory. According to some estimates, only about 10 percent of school districts have an active SHAC three years after passage of the law mandating it. This is largely because administrators do not even know it is required. To view the law, go to www.capitol.state.tx.us.

2) Get help creating a SHAC. Call your Education Service Center School Health Specialist or go to www.schoolhealth.info. Created by the American Cancer Society, a national leader in supporting school health programs, the site offers a step-by-step guide for setting up a SHAC. It includes everything from a sample agenda for the first organizational meeting to advice on how to create an action plan.

3) Establish a formal organizational structure with bylaws. Bylaws form the basis for how your SHAC operates and how it works and communicates with your district. www.schoolhealth.info.

4) Assess the needs of your district. The free School Health Index assessment and planning tool created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/SHI/ is invaluable, according to Dabney. The Health Index is designed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your school`s health promotion policies and programs, develop an action plan for improving student health, and provide tips to involve teachers, parents, students and the community in improving school policies and programs.

5) Set goals and develop an action plan for your SHAC. Focus on one or two topics identified in the School Health Index. Use www.schoolhealth.info and www.fns.usda.gov/tn to access information and free resources to help you move forward. Come up with a plan that takes into consideration the needs of the students and the realities faced by the district.

6) Present your plan to the school board. Have a written plan supported by data presented in a concise and professional manner.