The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing health disparities and changed the health and wellness behaviors of Colorado youth and families. The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) will work to protect and improve the health and well-being of school-age children and adolescents in underserved and disproportionately affected communities by strengthening the statewide learning ecosystem to increase healthy eating, physical activity, and the management of chronic health conditions and to decrease the impact of health disparities. Colorado local education agencies (LEAs) will be invited to receive quality professional development (PD) and technical assistance (TA) based on identified statewide needs, and one priority LEA, Fort Morgan RE-3, will receive in-depth TA for their school health efforts to reduce health disparities and improve overall school community health. CDE will continue to lead its statewide Healthy Schools Collaborative, while working to ensure that all components of the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child model (WSCC) are represented and have a voice within the collaborative. Through the proposed strategies and activities, CDE expects the following outcomes will be achieved over the five-year grant period:
- Increase in the number of districts/schools with school health councils or teams.
- Increase in the number of districts/schools completing the Smart Source survey and/or completing the School Health Index.
- Increase in the number of districts/schools who are using action planning and/or complete a School Health Improvement Plan to strengthen wellness policies and health outcomes.
- Increase in the number of staff members at districts/schools who can identify the social determinants of health and how these impact health equity in their school community.
- Increase in the number of WSCC partners in the existing statewide collaborative
- Increase in the number of interagency WSCC collaborations.
- Increase in the number of statewide Regional Healthy School Ambassadors.
- Increase in the number of students and staff members who agree that they can manage their stress.
- Increase in the number of staff who indicate that they feel comfortable talking to students about suicide and behavioral health.
- Decrease in the number of students who went hungry in the last 30 days due to lack of food in the home.
- Decrease in student absenteeism related to chronic and complex conditions.
- Increase in the number of minutes spent in physical education and physical activity.
