A new telehealth program now provides Glynn County students with access to medical and behavioral health services without leaving their school building.
The Glynn County Board of Education received an update during its work session Thursday on the school district’s rollout of a telehealth program that provides services to all schools.
“We have seen it be a tremendous support for our students and our staff,” said Senetra Haywood, director of student services.
Glynn County Schools partnered with the Global Partnerships for Telehealth to launch the new program about three months ago. The goal of the program is to reduce missed class time for students by providing access to health services through specialized equipment.
Students and school nurses are connected with medical providers off site. Parents and guardians are also able to join the students in person or remotely during the telehealth appointments.
Students can be seen for many types of visits, including sore throat, ear ache, pink eye, rashes, asthma, cough and cold symptoms, ADHDa mangement, behavioral health and sports physicals.
Prescriptions can be sent electronically to pharmacies.
Haywood added that in the past three months the new program has provided behavioral health screenings to 38 students. In-person appointments for these kinds of screenings can be difficult to get, she said, but the telehealth option allows students to get appointments within 72 hours.
A telehealth van will be onsite during the school district’s Literacy Fair, which will take place from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at Brunswick High’s track. The event will also include book giveaways, games and activities set up by schools.
Parents, guardians and community members can see firsthand during the fair what kind of telehealth services are provided.
In other business, the school board heard an update on the plan to find a new software package for the district’s human resource, payroll and finance operations.
The update was given by Chris Griner, who was recently hired as the district’s chief financial officerfollowing the retirement of Andrea Preston, who is now working as a part-time interim CFO.
The district is looking for a new financial management solution and to move away from its AS499 system, which most school districts in the state have stopped using, Griner said.
A request for proposals has been posted on the district’s website.