Hancock County Schools will be smiling with new dental program
NEW CUMBERLAND — Hancock County Schools’ faculty and staff work throughout the year to meet the educational needs of local youth, but soon they will be offering new opportunities to assist with students’ health as well.
Members of the county Board of Education, during its Tuesday meeting, approved a recommendation to establish a Smile program at all Hancock County schools.
“It’s actually a program across the nation,” explained Doug Murray, Communities in Schools coordinator at Weir Middle and Weir High schools.
While Murray’s presentation was done with a hope of getting such a program set up at Weirton’s three public schools – Weirton Elementary, Weir Middle and Weir High – and then expand to the rest of the county, board members felt it would be good to launch it county-wide.
School nurses throughout the county also are on board, according to school officials.
According to Murray, as part of the program, arrangements are made to bring dentists into the schools every six months to provide basic dental services, such as cleaning, for students registered in the program.
Typically, the participating dentists will provide services to between 20 and 25 youth per session, with the potential to schedule multiple days if the need is there. Records of each visit are sent to the parents or guardians, as well as kept on file by the school nurse.
Similar programs, Murray noted, are available in many of West Virginia’s counties, including through Brooke County Schools, as well as in neighboring Ohio school districts such as in Steubenville.
“It’s no cost to the schools,” Murray said. “We just have to provide the space.”
Assistant Superintendent Dave Smith explained parents or guardians have to approve of their children receiving the dental services before they are able to participate.
“Permission slips are sent home,” Smith said.
Murray said the goal is to provide a resource for youth who might not be able to receive dental care, either because of a lack of availability or opportunity to go to a local dentist.
“We focus on education, but we also focus on their health,” Murray said. “It’s another resource for our families.”