OCEANSIDE — A challenge for many young students learning to read is an ability to see clearly, which is why a local school district is providing free vision care to students across the city.
Oceanside Unified has partnered with Vision To Learn, a nonprofit organization that works with school districts to provide access to eye care with its mobile van units.
Through a $250,000 grant, the district will partner with Vision To Learn for at least the next two and a half years to provide students with between 5,000 and 6,000 free pairs of glasses.
“We’re finding that around 30% of students are failing their vision screenings,” said Mercedes Lovie, Associate Superintendent of Educational Support Services. “Those who do not pass their screening are scheduled into a full vision diagnostic with an optometrist who sees about 30 students daily. They get a prescription for eyeglasses and pick out their frames, and in a few weeks, those glasses are returned to the children at school.”
The “vision vans” are deployed to several campuses in Oceanside known as community schools, which are schools that provide extra resources through local partnerships like eye care, dental, wellness checkups and other needs for students who may not otherwise have access to such services outside of school.
Community schools also work closely with parents to build tighter communities and provide everything their children need to succeed.
“The vision is to ensure all students have the support they need to be successful,” Lovie said.
The community schools target campuses with populations that have higher needs. Oceanside started with four last year – Mission, Libby and Laurel elementary schools plus Jefferson Middle School – and has since added two more this year: Cesar Chavez Middle School and Pablo Tac School of the Arts.
The district’s community schools program has been in place for over a year now with plans to keep growing after receiving a statewide community schools grant that has provided $8 million to pay for the program over the next five years.
All students attending community schools are eligible to receive free eye care services with a priority on those experiencing poverty. However, the district must first have parental permission for students to receive eye care.
While the vision services are located at the community schools for now, Lovie noted that students at other schools in the district who need eye care could also receive vision services for free.
The district is currently working on providing its vision vans to all 22 school campuses in the future.
“The vision van will go to all of our school sites,” said Communications Director Donald Bendz. “They are starting at our six community schools first because those campuses have the most need.”
Not only are the vision vans removing a barrier for families by providing free eye exams and glasses, but the service also prevents students from being removed from campus to see an eye doctor, which also means parents don’t have to take time off from work to take their children to an appointment off campus.
“What Oceanside Unified is trying to do is eliminate taking kids out of schools and getting all of their needs met here,” said Kristi Torrington, a communications specialist with the district.
According to Lovie, providing services like vision care to students can help them focus more on academics while at school.
“Students who cannot see well are not able to learn to read well, so if we can address that barrier, we will see an improved educational and overall outcome for our community,” Lovie said.
The district is currently developing a local partnership with a different agency to provide dental services at school sites, similar to how the vision vans offer eye care.
