Mayor Mike McGinn and the Seattle City Council Friday announced a new school-based health center for immigrant and refugee students and their families funded by the city's current Families and Education Levy (FEL).

The clinic is the 15th school-based health center funded by the FEL but the first one to serve primarily immigrant and refugee children.

The FEL funds public school programs that are not covered by Seattle Public Schools. The current levy, which was approved by voters in 2004, is set to expire at the end of the year. The City Council recently voted to put a $232 million levy renewal on the November ballot. I know that Seattle usually votes to pass school levies, but in case it doesn't this time, I asked the city if they had a Plan B.

Sid Sidorowicz from the city's Department of Education, which manages programs under the FEL, said that funds were available through the 2011-2012 school year so that the clinic could remain open until August 2012. "Like all levy funded programs, if renewal is not approved, the city would need to look at various strategies of using existing city funds, other potential resources like federal or philanthropic funds, or returning to voters with another alternative. Some levy funded programs would cease," he said.

During its final year, the levy will provide $336,000 to the clinic.

It was McGinn who recommended that the clinic's funding come from the levy. Immigrant and refugee students are among the most struggling in the school district. A statement from McGinn referred to data which shows a direct correlation between student health and performance. School health centers also help improve attendance and drop-out rates and GPA, particularly among high risk youth. "A recent peer-review study shows that usage of Seattle’s school based health centers was related to a 33 percent decreased likelihood of dropping out of school when compared with students who had similar risk factors but who didn’t utilize school-based health center services,” he said.

The city has picked International Community Health Services—a non-profit that has served immigrant and refugee communities for over three decades—as the lead agency for developing and operating the health center which will be located at the Secondary Bilingual Orientation Center, which admits 6th to 12th grade immigrant and refugee students.

Council Member Tim Burgess, who chairs the council's Public Safety and Education Committee, said that the partnership was especially exciting because it marked the first time "we are extending this support to the broader community that these children rely on.”