The Florida Department of Education and the Florida Department of Health work in cooperation to coordinate the School Health Services Program as mandated in Florida Statute sections 381.0056, 381.0057, and 402.3026. The School Health Services Program is designed to appraise, protect and promote the health of our students as well as provide preventative and emergency school-based health services in accordance with our local School Health Services Plan.
Putnam County Public Schools and the Putnam County Health Department coordinate locally to provide the health services to all students enrolled in Putnam County Public Schools. These services include, but are not limited to:
Providing basic first aid and emergency care
Administering doctor ordered medications and treatments
Grade specific state mandated health screenings (hearing, vision, height/weight, BMI and scoliosis)
Nursing assessments
Health Counseling
Referrals and follow-up for confirmed health problems
Communicable disease prevention and intervention
Our Putnam County School Health Program is managed by a Registered Nurse and addresses day-to- day student health needs, emergency health needs and in-school management of chronic and acute health conditions like diabetes, asthma, allergies and epilepsy. In-school care management helps to ensure that student health conditions do not prevent students from attending school. School clinics are staffed with trained personnel and supervised by a Registered Nurse.
Parents/guardians must complete a Health Services Consent form for their child to participate in the School Health Services Program. As part of the new requirements for Florida law, HB 1557, Parental Rights in Education, parents must now provide written consent for schools to provide health care services, including basic first aid, ice, bandaids and the care and treatment for illness and injuries. The PCSD Health Services Consent Form can be completed in the Skyward Family Access Portal. You can also access the form here and submit it to your child's school.
