Optometrists Set to Launch Proposition 10-Funded Vision Clinic in Oxnard School District

To catch vision problems "before they hinder" classroom performance, Ventura County optometrists are set to establish a vision clinic for kindergarten and preschool students in the Oxnard school district using Proposition 10 tobacco tax money, the Los Angeles Times reports. Located at the Cesar Chavez Elementary School in Oxnard's La Colonia neighborhood, the clinic will offer vision screening services ranging from depth perception to color discrimination. The clinic will be funded by a $105,000 grant from the Oxnard Neighborhoods for Learning Collaborative, a group of school, community and faith-based agencies charged with distributing some of the county's Proposition 10 funds within the school district. Proposition 10, the 1998 initiative that levied a 50-cents-per-pack tax on cigarettes for child development programs, provides $12 million annually to the county, with $1.6 million for the collaborative. Clinic staff will teach students, parents and teachers how to "correct or compensate" for vision problems. Linda Butcher, the school district's health and nursing services coordinator, said, "We're going to have an opportunity to give kids a totally thorough vision examination before they even begin to learn and before they have a chance to become frustrated with school" (Alvarez, Los Angeles Times, 12/17).