Baldwin County School District Deputy Dr. Rodney Tyson recently joined the Baldwin County Health Department Advisory Council and has identified two areas of improvement for the school system: vaping and immunization.
Tyson received a call from the Department of Health asking him to serve as a representative for the school district. He will serve on the council as long as he is still working for the district.
“I was thrilled to accept,” said Tyson. “My role is to be a bridge between the school district and community, and this is one step toward that goal.”
While being on council, Tyson stated they have discussed ongoing health initiatives, opportunities and classes for pregnant mothers, vaping sensation classes, reports on immunization in the community, ratings of restaurants in the community, and more.
“We talked about efforts to get students more actively involved in the health department,” said Tyson. “Although our students are getting immunizations, they are not going directly to the health department to get it done and we want to bring awareness that the avenue is more readily available.”
Immunizations are being done but Tyson stated that it has been made aware to the council that many guardians do not realize that the health department offers these resources.
“We have talked about having the mobile clinic come onto campus and offering that service to our staff and students,” said Tyson. “At our Early Learning Center, our Bee Well Clinic also provides immunizations, which many have taken advantage of.”
Vaping was the second identified issue within the school district. The Baldwin County School District already has a zero-tolerance policy for nicotine vapes or any related products, including during the school day and events. Tyson stated that he did not have an exact number of students who vape but that programs being discussed would focus on the middle and high school levels.
“Vaping is not only an issue in our school district but our society as a whole. We need to educate our community on the effects of vaping to get it under control,” said Tyson. “Getting resources out to parents so they can have those conversations with their children is a focal point into this early on.”
Students that are identified to need assistance related to vaping will be assisted in enrolling in educational programs and the school district also would like to get educational resources out to parents.
“We are in the preliminary phases of getting those classes into our schools,” said Tyson. “Students that have been identified as users and others who may be interested after we advertise will be able to take the classes.”
Health is often a common barrier for families in preventing education. According to Tyson, it can prevent attendance, stop students from being “mentally alert,” cause sickness to spread, and affect home life.
“For anyone interested in staying on top of their health, we recommend they keep check of our socials and the Department of Health socials. We will also post any programs or classes related to health issues or services in the schools.”
For students with long-term illnesses or chronic illnesses, BCSD offers the Hospital Homebound Program to ensure their education.
“We give them their educational instruction online via Google Classroom and we assign a teacher that will physically visit the home for so many hours per week to work one-on-one with the student to ensure they are grasping the concepts,” said Tyson. “Just because a student has a chronic or long-term illness, they will not be prevented from getting their education.”
Tyson plans to stay on the council long-term and is looking forward to networking with the community, especially faith-based leaders that “are a large voice in the community and touch a large portion of the community.”