Bulloch County Schools will open its first school-based health center for the 2025-26 school year, offering comprehensive medical care and counseling care to students and staff at two of its schools.
According to a release from Hayley Greene, director of Public Relations for the school district, Langston Chapel Elementary and Langston Chapel Middle, which share a campus, will house the health center.
The project that is being funded by a $1 million grant from the Georgia Department of Education.
Greene wrote in the release that the schools were selected because they have the school district's highest number of students who are in foster care, Medicaid eligible, or experiencing housing insecurity or homelessness.
"The goal is to help remove the multiple barriers that these families experience with receiving quality healthcare and to help lessen disruptions to their children's education," the release stated.
"This center will provide essential healthcare services to both our students and staff, making care more accessible and timely," said Aldric Dekle, principal of Langston Elementary. "By offering on-site health services, we can improve attendance, support well-being, and ensure that our staff and students stay healthy and ready to work and learn."
Langston Middle Principal Willie Robinson, Ed.D., called it a "game changer" for the school.
Also, Dekle and Robinson believe the health center will be helpful to current employees and also in the recruitment of new faculty and staff to their schools.
The new center is part of a statewide effort to expand healthcare access in Georgia through its public schools. Gov. Brian Kemp announced in 2022 a $125-million investment to strengthen Georgia's School-Based Health Center Program, particularly in underserved communities. Bulloch County's health center will become part of Georgia's growing network of 123 centers.
The school district's plan, which was developed by Dawn Tysinger, Ph.D., executive director of Student Wellness & Support for Bulloch County Schools, and approved by Superintendent Charles Wilson, was selected by the state for grant funding in December 2024. The district has partnered with East Georgia Healthcare, a federally qualified health center, to operate the facility.
"We know that when students are healthy, they attend school more regularly and perform better academically." Tysinger said. "This center will also support working parents by reducing time away from work for doctor visits."
Initially, the district received $8,000 for planning, to survey parents and staff, and to form an advisory board. In the coming weeks, an additional $1 million will be allocated from the grant with $308,000 dedicated to facility construction and $682,000 for medical staffing and supplies.
Services offered
The center will first operate inside Langston Chapel Elementary before moving to a new, custom modular building on the Langston Chapel campus. It will not replace school nurses but will provide extra medical support. School nurses can refer students to the health center for same-day care with parental consent. Parents can then choose to either go with their child to the health center or attend via telehealth.
The center will accept Medicaid, PeachCare, private insurance, and offer a sliding payment scale for uninsured families.
The center will be open during the school day to Langston Chapel students and employees only. It will provide the following services: primary care, chronic disease management, immunizations, lab testing, diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic illnesses, minor injury treatment, sports physicals and referrals to specialists.
The center will not offer surgeries, birth control or sex education materials.
Family, employee benefits
The school district has established an advisory board made up of a physician, other medical professionals, educators and parents. The initial survey of Langston Chapel families and employees revealed that more than 75% would likely use the center. The center will reduce pediatric healthcare costs and wait times, eliminate the barrier of transportation to health services, and reduce time away from work for parents.
Long-term plan
The grant covers all initial set up costs, so the school district will only provide space, promote the center to families and help with parental consents. East Georgia Healthcare will run the clinic, hire staff and manage billing. Financial data from other centers show that the center can be self-sustaining within three years or when it begins seeing at least 10 patients per day.
At this time there are no plans to place additional school-based health centers in the school district unless additional grant funding becomes available.
"This will make a real difference for our students and families," Superintendent Charles Wilson said. "Having healthcare right at school means children can get the care they need more quickly, and be on their way to better health."