Ohio

Ohio is seeking to increase the percentage of schools that provide parents and families health information to increase parent and family knowledge of HIV prevention, STD prevention, or teen pregnancy prevention.

Activities

• Develop and disseminate HIV prevention guidelines for Ohio schools that support comprehensive school health policies related to HIV and include recommendations for parent and family education programs.
• Develop and disseminate an HIV toolkit for school districts to implement HIV prevention guidelines for Ohio schools. The toolkit includes presentation templates and newsletter templates for use in HIV parent education programs.
• Work with the Community Planning Group for HIV Prevention in Ohio to link local school districts with community-based organizations and resources that can provide additional education to parents and families on HIV prevention, transmission, and care services.

Ohio is seeking to increase the percentage of schools in which the lead health education teacher received professional development during the past 2 years on all of the following:

• Describing how widespread HIV and other STD infections are and the consequences of these infections.
• Understanding the modes of transmission and effective prevention strategies for HIV and other STDs.
• Identifying populations of youth who are at high risk of being infected with HIV and other STDs.
• Implementing health education strategies using prevention messages that are likely to be effective in reaching youth.

Activities

• Develop and disseminate HIV prevention guidelines for Ohio schools that support comprehensive school health policies related to HIV and include professional development recommendations for health teachers and school staff.
• Coordinate, market, and deliver high quality professional develop opportunities to health teachers and school staff across the state.
• Offer professional development events in areas that have high rates of HIV infection.
• Work with the Community Planning Group for HIV Prevention in Ohio to identify community-based organizations and university staff who can provide education to school staff on HIV prevention curriculum, instructional practices, and assessment for health teachers and early childhood teachers.

Ohio is seeking to increase the percentage of schools that have a policy or policies that address all of the following issues:

• Attendance of students with HIV infection.
• Procedures to protect HIV-infected students and staff from discrimination.
• Maintaining confidentiality of HIV-infected students and staff.

Activities

• Develop and disseminate HIV prevention guidelines for Ohio schools that support comprehensive school health policies related to HIV that address student rights to attend school; equity, bullying and discrimination; issues of privacy and confidentiality; and universal precautions.
• Provide professional develop and technical assistance to schools on implementing HIV prevention guidelines for Ohio schools.

Physical Activity

Ohio is seeking to increase the percentage of schools in which at least one physical education teacher or specialist received professional development on physical education during the past 2 years.

Activities

• Provide regional trainings that include follow-up support, evaluation, and technical assistance on the Physical Education Curriculum Assessment Tool, newly adopted Ohio academic content standards for physical education, curriculum development for physical education in grades K–12, instructional practices for physical education in grades K–12, assessment strategies for physical education in grades K–12, SPARK 3-6, and middle school physical education curriculum training.
• Create a cadre of trainers from colleges and universities in Ohio to provide annual professional development and technical assistance to physical education teachers.

Nutrition

The Ohio Department of Education is seeking to increase the percentage of schools that always offer fruits or nonfried vegetables in vending machines, school stores, and during celebrations when foods and beverages are offered.

Activities

• Develop a nutrition toolkit on addressing nutrition in schools.
• Collaborate with other state partners to support nutrition standards for Ohio schools.

Tobacco

Ohio is seeking to increase the percentage of schools that follow a policy that mandates a “tobacco-free environment.” “A tobacco-free environment” is one that prohibits tobacco use by students, staff, and visitors in school buildings, at school functions, in school vehicles, on school grounds, and at off-site school events, applicable 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

Activities

• Develop a tobacco prevention education toolkit promoting 100% tobacco-free campuses.

Ohio is seeking to increase the percentage of schools that implement a tobacco-use prevention policy in all of the following ways:

• Provide visible signage.
• Communicate the policy to students, staff, and visitors.
• Designate an individual responsible for enforcement.
• Have a process in place for addressing violations.
• Use remedial rather than punitive sanctions for violators.
• Tailor consequences to the severity and frequency of the violation and communicate student violations to their parents and families.

Activities

• Partner to coordinate and map resources for a tobacco prevention campaign for youth with the statewide work group.

Ohio is seeking to increase the percentage of schools that have a group (e.g., school health team) that helps plan and implement school health programs, with representation from 10 or more of the following:

• School administrators.
• Health education teachers.
• Physical education teachers.
• Mental health or social services staff.
• Nutrition or food service staff.
• Health services staff (e.g., school nurse).
• Maintenance and transportation staff.
• Student body.
• Parents or families of students.
• Community.
• Local health departments, agencies, or organizations.
• Faith-based organizations.
• Businesses.
• Local government.

Activities

• Partner with six school districts to pilot the integration of coordinated school health strategies and actions into Ohio’s School Improvement Process and district plans.
• Provide professional development, follow-up, and support to assist school health teams in obtaining community representation on local school health councils and school health teams.
• Develop a communication plan to inform key Ohio partners about the roles and benefits of integrating coordinated school health and public health essential services into the district and school improvement plans.
• Strengthen the capacity of programs delivered in both community and school settings to foster greater coordination and planning that address the needs of young people to ensure that these programs are connected and efficient.
• Develop effective relationships with public health membership organizations to strengthen public health support for improving youth and adolescent health and academic outcomes.

Ohio is seeking to increase the percentage of schools that have ever assessed their policies, activities, and programs by using the School Health Index or a similar self-assessment tool in any of the following areas:  

• Physical activity.
• Nutrition.
• Tobacco-use prevention.

Activities

• Provide regional School Health Index trainings that include follow-up support, evaluation, and technical assistance.

Ohio is seeking to increase the percentage of schools in which students’ family or community members have helped develop, communicate information about, or implement policies and programs on any of the following health issues:

• Tobacco-use prevention.
• Physical activity.
• Nutrition and healthy eating.

Activities

• Work with 25 counties to pilot family and community engagement initiatives between the districts and Family and Children First Councils.
• Strengthen the capacity of the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Department of Public Health to foster greater coordination and planning to address the needs of young people and ensure that these community and schools programs are connected and efficient.
• Develop effective relationships with public health membership organizations to strengthen public health support for improving youth and adolescent health and academic outcomes.