In the lopsided battle to preserve an ever-shrinking budget, the Alum Rock Union School District is making a foray on a new front: community health care.

Every time a sick child misses school, the district loses state revenue. Now, through a partnership with its health insurance broker, Keenan & Associates, Alum Rock has become a conduit for offering discounts on prescription drugs not only to employees, but also to residents in the East San Jose district -- and beyond.

Anyone with or without insurance, with children or not, with an Alum Rock address or anywhere else may sign up for a special card to secure discounts of up to 20 percent on brand-name drugs and up to 85 percent on generic drugs. Alum Rock is the first school district in the state to offer the program.

Neither the cardholder nor the district pays a fee for the card. If it sounds like there's a catch, it's that the card issuer reaps a fee, which is folded into the drug charge, for every prescription filled.

"Our interest is in having healthy kids in school," said Alum Rock Superintendent Jose Manzo.

Many of Alum Rock's families are uninsured or underinsured, and not getting medical attention or proper