Student Wellness Policy

A recent commenter asked if the student wellness policy the school board was discussing was posted anywhere for public comment. Here it is. First...some background.

This spring the Indiana General Assembly passed a law requiring each school to have a student wellness policy. This policy was reviewed by a group of people including representatives from administrators, parents, cooks, and nurses. The policy started with a sample taken from the Indiana School Boards' Association and was modified by a committee of Wawasee people. Then it was reviewed and modified again before going to the school board for review. It has been reviewed twice by the school board. It will be up for adoption at the August school board meeting. This current revision is essentially a restatement of what the school law and federal lunch rules require.

STUDENT WELLNESS POLICY

The Board of School Trustees of the Wawasee Community School Corporation supports increased emphasis on nutrition as well as physical activity at all grade levels to enhance the well-being of the school corporation’s students. Therefore, it is the policy of the Board to:

· Provide students access to nutritious food and beverages;
· Provide opportunities for physical activity and developmentally appropriate exercise; and
· Require that all meals served by the school corporation meet the federal nutritional guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In grades 9-12 vending machines dispensing healthy snacks and drinks such as bottled water, fruit juice, milk, dried fruit, and nuts, may be made available throughout the school day, after school, and at all extra-curricular activities.

Vending machines will provide the appropriate percentages of healthy foods as per current law.
This is mostly a high school issue because there will be virtually no vending machine usage by students during the school day K-8. In the high school they will be phasing out the carbonated beverages altogether over time. Currently half the machines already have healthy choices in them.

Minimally nutritious snacks and drinks may not be sold on lunch lines as a la carte items.
While ALL a la carte items currently meet these guidelines - the cooks have agreed to take a more restrictive view for next year than what is required by federal nutrition guidelines.

All school-sponsored events and celebrations of special occasions during the school day shall include healthy beverages and/or food among the choices available to participants.
Principals will work to create a more reasonable policy next year on things like "reward parties and birthday parties" etc. They will not be eliminating such things - just trying to avoid the situation where three parents bring cupcakes to the same room on the same day.

Each elementary school day shall incorporate several minutes of physical activity or exercise as determined at each building level in addition to the physical education curriculum.

Nutrition, health, and fitness topics shall be integrated within the health education curriculum taught at every grade level, K-12, and coordinated with the school corporation’s food service program. These topics may be integrated with other curriculum areas as deemed appropriate.

The superintendent and each building principal or designee shall jointly share the operational responsibility for ensuring that the provisions of this policy and its regulations are met.


LEGAL REFERENCE: 42 U.S.C. 1751