Sometimes students miss school because of health concerns and made county school leaders are tackling that issue head on.

Leaders from Meade County Public Schools recently briefed lawmakers on how they're keeping students healthy and in the classroom.

The Healthy Kids Clinic is in its second year of full operation.

The clinic partners with Cumberland Family Medicine of Russell County to provide nurses and a nurse practitioner to the school district.

The clinic serves students and staff, and it can provide all the services of a regular health clinic like sports physicals and strep and flu tests.

Mead County superintendent said it's changed the way the school district functions and it's improving students attendance.

When I came to the district in 2014, we had one nurse.

We now have a nurse in all eight of our schools and we have a nurse practitioner.

We have seen almost a full percentage point attendance and permit from our students.

We are right at .95 for the 2425 school year.

We know when kids come to school that we're able to teach them, they're able to be fed.

We're able to keep our eyes on students that come from vulnerable situations.

So we're very pleased with that.

And we know the Healthy Kids Clinic, has definitely contributed positively.

Can you speak to just like private conversations that might be going on, and how are you communicating that with the parents, since they're not present in the room for that appointment?

Every year, the Healthy Kids Clinic sends out the forms to for the parents.

They get them at the beginning of the school year.

If we have a form on file for the student, then they still will contact that parent to let them know, hey, they're down here, they're sick.

They have, you know, lots of over-the-counter medicines that they can give, but they always talk to the parent first.

The district health coordinator said the providers can bill health insurance or Medicaid for the cost of services.

The clinic operates under a shared cost model where no student can be denied care.

This year, they're expanding services to have a mental health provider and dentists to care for vulnerable students as well.