For the past eleven years, the School Based Health Center has tended to both the physical and emotional scrapes and bumps of students at Ashe County Middle School, but if other avenues of funding are not found in the near future that all may come to an end.

During Tuesday’s March meeting of the Ashe County Board of Education, Appalachian District Health Department Director Danny Staley approached the board to inform them that there is “no continuation of funds for the center but that they (officials) are still looking.” Local health officials have worked in conjunction with Ashe County Schools and Ashe Memorial Hospital to provide services for students at the middle school.

The shortfall in funding for the center comes following last year’s cut of the “Making the Grade” grant, which provides two-thirds of the center’s funding. The total operating cost for the center and its current staff is approximately $147,000. Overall, the facility is funded in part by the Appalachian District Health Department and not the Ashe County School System.

Staley explained that officials were able to find additional funding last year and that time is running out to allocate more funds to keep the center running another year. After “combing the state budget” in an attempt to find some overlooked funding, Staley feels that officials may be running out of options.

“We’ve tried to look for funds in Raleigh and the one thing that comes back is ‘it’s not a good time,’” Staley said. He cited the state’s cut in certain school immunization programs and other core functions as proof of the tougher economic times that state lawmakers are facing.

Through Staley’s discussion with school board members Monday evening, he illustrated that the real victims in the entire ordeal are the students who directly benefit from having an on campus health center. Staley reiterated a discussion held last week at the county’s health forum that revered education as a key indicator to health and how both components work hand in hand to a student’s overall wellbeing.

“No one I know of has had anything negative to say about the health center’s services,” Staley said. “To me, it is a shame in our country how we continue to fight to provide care to our people.”

Ashe County Schools Superintendent Dr. Travis Reeves said that the future of the health center remains unclear. He and Staley had planned to meet with local health officials on Thursday to find “alternative funding” if additional money could not be allocated in the near future.

“Right now, it’s all contingent upon funding,” Reeves said.