Cambridge School Committee Ponders Building New Student Health Clinic

The Cambridge School Committee is considering a proposal for a comprehensive health clinic to be located at the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School.

The proposal sponsored by the Cambridge Health Advocates for Teens (CHAT), an ad hoc coalition of various community groups, was presented at the last School Committee meeting earlier this month and calls for a more extensive substitute for the current health services at the school.

Proponents of the plan say that the current services can only provide limited medical care and counseling to students. The CHAT presentation said that one-third to one-half of Cambridge students said they received no other medical attention than that received at school.

"The school nurses [are] getting a lot of problems that they are not equipped to deal with," said Frances H. Cooper, a member of the School Committee.

Cooper, who supports the plan, said, "I think that it's very frustrating for school nurses."

Both school nurses and Cambridge Health Department physicians have been strong proponents of the idea of a comprehensive health clinic at the high school.

One potential obstacle to the proposal is birth control counseling and devices that may be provided by the clinic.

The United Way, which has tentatively offered $100,000 to fund the clinic has started publicly that it will not support the plan if it dispenses contraceptive devices.

In addition, public opposition to the contraceptive services may surface in a public hearing that has yet to be scheduled.

But other officials say they support dispensing of contraceptives at the school.

Cooper said that she personally supported contraceptive counseling and dispensing. But she stressed that she would support the plan regardless of whether birth control was distribute.

"I don't think there's a consensus on this issue," she said. "You want to start something with as much cooperation and consensus as possible."

Facts of Life

In an interview last week, City Councilor Alice K. Wolf said, "The facts of life are that a lot of young people are engaging in sexual activity...we should try to help people understand."

She said that eventually the City Council will be involved in the plan as the clinic will be administered through the Cambridge Health Department.

"I think it has a lot of good potential," said Wolf.

"As a policy matter, we should be doing whatever we can do," she said.