School Wellness Program

In response to the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition and Women, Infants and Children Act, the Board directs the superintendent / designee to develop and maintain a student wellness program.

The student wellness program:

            1.         includes goals for nutrition education, physical activity and other school-based activities designed to promote student wellness;

            2.         includes nutrition guidelines for all foods available in the district during the school day in order to promote student health and reduce childhood obesity;

            3.         provides assurance that district guidelines for reimbursable school meals are, at a minimum, equal to the guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture;  and

            4.         establishes a plan of implementation and evaluation, including designating one or more persons within the district with the responsibility for ensuring that the  district is compliant with federal law.

Development of the student wellness program must be a collaborative effort between parents, students, food service workers, administrators, the Board and the public.

The Board recognizes that good nutrition and regular physical activity affect the health and wellbeing of the district’s students.  Furthermore, research suggests that there is a positive correlation between a student’s health and wellbeing and his/her ability to learn.  Moreover, schools can play an important role in the developmental process by which students establish their health and nutrition habits by providing nutritious meals and snacks, supporting the development of good eating habits, and promoting increased physical activity both in and out of school.

The Board, however, believes this effort to support the students’ development of healthy behaviors and habits with regard to eating and exercise cannot be accomplished by the schools alone.  It will be necessary for not only the staff, but also parents and the public at large, to be involved in a community-wide effort to promote, support, and model such healthy behaviors and habits.

The Board sets the following goals in an effort to enable students to establish good health and nutrition habits:

A.        The district shall provide nutrition education:   

            1.         Nutrition education shall be included in the Health curriculum so that instruction is sequential and standards-based and provides students with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to lead healthy lives.

            2.         Nutrition education should be included in the sequential, comprehensive Health curriculum in accordance with the curriculum standards and benchmarks established by the State.

            3.         Nutrition education should be integrated into other subject areas of the curriculum, when appropriate, to complement, but not replace, the standards and benchmarks for health education.

            4.         Nutrition education standards and benchmarks should be age-appropriate and culturally relevant.

            5.         The standards and benchmarks for nutrition education should be behavior focused.

            6.         Nutrition education should include enjoyable, developmentally appropriate and culturally relevant participatory activities, such as contests, promotions, taste testing, and others.

            7.         Nutrition education should include opportunities for appropriate student project related to nutrition, involving, when possible, community agencies and organizations.

            8.         Nutrition education should extend beyond the classroom by engaging and involving the school’s food service staff.

            9.         Nutrition education posters, such as the Food Pyramid Guide, should be displayed                    in the cafeteria.

            10.       Nutrition education should extend beyond the school by engaging and involving families and the community.

            11.       Nutrition education should reinforce lifelong balance by emphasizing the link                               between caloric intake (eating) and exercise in ways that are age-appropriate.

            12.       Nutrition education benchmarks and standards should include a focus on media literacy as it relates to food marketing strategies.

            13.       Nutrition education standards and benchmarks should promote the benefits of a balanced diet that includes more fruits, vegetables, whole grain products, and low- fat and fat-free dairy products.

            14.       Staff responsible for providing instruction in nutrition education should regularly participate in professional development activities designed to better enable them  to teach the benchmarks and standards.

            15.       The Franklin Local School District should provide information to parents that is designed to encourage them to reinforce at home the standards and benchmarks being taught in the classroom.

B.         The district shall provide physical education and physical activity:

            Physical Education:

                        1.         A sequential, comprehensive physical education program should be provided for students K-12 in accordance with the standards and benchmarks established by the State.

                        2.         The physical education curriculum should provide sequential instruction related to the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to participate in lifelong, health-enhancing physical activity.

                        3.         Physical education classes should provide students with opportunities to learn, practice, and be assessed on developmentally appropriate motor skills and social skills, as well as knowledge.

                        4.         The sequential, comprehensive physical education curriculum should stress the importance of remaining physically active for life.

                        5.         Planned instruction in physical education should be sufficient for student to achieve a proficient level with regard to the standards and benchmarks established by the State.

                        6.         The K-12 program should include instruction in physical education as well as opportunities to participate in competitive and non-competitive team sports and games to encourage lifelong physical activity.

                        7.         Planned instruction in physical education should require students to be engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity for at least fifty percent (50%) of scheduled class time.

                        8.         Properly certificated, highly qualified teachers should provide all instruction in physical education.

                        9.         Planned instruction in physical education should teach cooperation, fair play, and responsible participation.

                        10.       Planned instruction in physical education should meet the needs of all students, including those who are not athletically gifted. 

                        11.       Planned instruction in physical education shall be presented in an environment free of embarrassment, humiliation, shaming, taunting, or harassment of any kind.

                        12.       Planned instruction in physical education should take into account gender and cultural differences.

                        13.       Planned instruction in physical education should promote participation in physical activity outside the regular school day.

            Physical Activity:

1.         Physical activity should not be employed as a form of discipline or punishment during the school day.

2.         Physical activity and movement should be integrated, when possible, across the curricula and throughout the school day.                                                                   

3.         Schools should encourage families to provide physical activity outside the regular school day, such as outdoor play at home, participation in sports sponsored by community agencies or organizations, and in lifelong physical activities like bowling, swimming, or tennis.                                                      

4.         The school should provide information to families to encourage and assist them in their efforts to incorporate physical activity into their children’s daily lives.

5.         The school should encourage families and community organizations to institute programs that support physical activity of all sorts.                                                        

6.         All students in grades K-12 should have the opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities and/or intramural programs that emphasize physical activity.

 7.         All students in grades 7-12 should have the opportunity to participate in interscholastic sports programs.                                                                                    

8.         In addition to planned physical education, the school should provide age-appropriate physical activities (e.g., recess during the school day, intramurals and clubs before and after school, and interscholastic  sports) that meet the needs of all students, including males, females, students with disabilities, and students with special healthcare needs.

  9.         After-school programs should provide developmentally appropriate physical activity for the students who participate, when appropriate.

C.        With regard to other school-based activities, the district shall:

            1.         The school shall provide attractive, clean environments in which the students eat.

            2.         Activities, such as tutoring or club meetings, should not be scheduled during mealtimes, unless students may eat during those meetings.

            3.         Students, parents, and other community members should have access to, and encouraged to use, the school’s outdoor physical activity facilities outside the normal school day.

            4.         The schools may provide opportunities for staff, parents, and other community members to model healthy eating habits by dining with students in the school dining areas.

            5.         The schools may demonstrate support for the health of all students by hosting health clinics and screenings and encouraging parents to enroll their eligible children in Medicaid or in other children’s health insurance programs for which they may qualify.

            6.         Schools in our system utilize electronic identification and payment systems,therefore, eliminating any stigma or identification of students eligible to receive free and / or reduced meals.

            7.         Students are discouraged from sharing their foods or beverages with one another during mealtimes, given concerns about allergies and other restrictions on some students’ diets.

Furthermore, with the objectives of enhancing student health and wellbeing, and reducing childhood obesity, the following guidelines are established:

            1.         The food service program will strive to be financially self-supporting; however, if it is necessary to subsidize the operation, it will not be through the sale of foods with minimal nutritious value.

            2.         The food service program will provide all students affordable access to the varied and nutritious foods they need to be healthy and to learn well.

            3.         All foods available to students in the dining area during school food service hours shall comply with the current USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans, including competitive foods available to student ala carte or from vending machines.

            4.         The school food service program may involve

                        a.         students,

                        b.         parents,

                        c.         staff,

                        d.         school officials

                       in the selection of competitive food items to be sold in the schools.

            5.         Nutrition information for competitive foods available during the school day should be readily available near the point of purchase.

            6.         All foods available to students in school program should be served with consideration for promoting student health and wellbeing.  Examples include, but are not limited to, food service programs, concession stands, and fundraising  activities.

            7.         The school should prepare and distribute to staff, parents, and after-school program personnel a list of snack items that comply with the current USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

            8.         The food service program shall be administered by a director who is properly qualified, certificated, licensed, or credentialed, according to current professional  standards.

            9.         All food service personnel shall receive pre-service training in food service operations.

            10.       Continuing professional development shall be provided for all staff of the food service program.

The Board designates the Superintendent as the individual charged with operational responsibility for measuring and evaluating the district’s implementation and progress under this policy.  The Superintendent shall develop administrative guidelines necessary to implement this policy.

The Superintendent shall report on the district’s compliance with this policy and the progress toward achieving the goals set forth herein when requested to do so by the Board.

Review of this policy shall occur every year by a committee appointed by the Board, consisting of a representative(s) of the Board, the administration, the food service provider, the parents, the students, and the public.  The committee shall provide the Board with any recommended changes to this policy.

The Board of Education further authorizes the Franklin Local School District Wellness Committee, consisting of representatives from the groups outlined in the preceding paragraph, to develop a comprehensive Wellness Program for implementation with students, staff, parents, and community.  The Wellness Program is to be presented to the BOE for review and consideration.

Food Services Management / Free and Reduced-Price Food Services

The Board operates a food services program in its schools.  Food preparation is centralized for elementary, intermediate and secondary schools when appropriate.

Food services include breakfasts and lunches in all schools through participation in the National Child Nutrition Programs.

The food services staff cooperates with the principals of the schools in matters essential to the proper functioning of the food services program.  The responsibility for control of students using the cafeteria rests with the building principal.

All prices set for school breakfasts, lunches and milk are subject to Board approval, except for a la carte food prices.  The food services supervisor sets these prices without Board approval.  As required for participation in the National Child Nutrition Programs, the Board agrees that:

1.         breakfast and a “Type A” lunch are made available to students, provided at least one-   third of the students are eligible under federal law for free meals;

2.         breakfast is made available in every school in which the parents of at least one-half of the           children enrolled have requested that the breakfast program be established;

3.         students who qualify receive free or reduced-price meals;

4.         all meals must meet USDA nutritional standards; and

5.         the management of food services shall comply with all federal, state and local     regulations.

All students are expected to eat lunch at school and may not leave school grounds during the lunch hour, except as permission has been granted by the principal.  Students are permitted to bring their lunches from home and to purchase milk and incidental items.

School lunch funds and other food service funds are kept in a special account.

The district provides for at least one employee, who has received instruction in methods to prevent choking and has demonstrated an ability to perform the Heimlich maneuver, to be present while students are being served.

Food Sale Standards

Through its food service program, the Board has a responsibility to encourage students to form healthful eating habits.  Many students tend to eat non-nutritious or “junk” foods, which contribute to tooth decay, obesity, diabetes and heart disease.  The Board enforces standards governing the types of food sold in the schools and the time and place at which each type of food is sold.  These standards are based on the following guidelines.

1.         The types of food sold in the schools are determined as to their potential to contribute significantly to the daily nutritional needs of students and to enhance the district’s nutrition philosophy and nutrition education curriculum.

2.         The time of day and place for the sale of food to students must be consistent with the nutrient intake needs and eating patterns of students and compatible with class schedules for schools within the district.  Separate standards may be established for the types of  food to be sold to staff members and for special or extracurricular events.  The following  restrictions should be enforced.

            a.         Vending machines offering foods or beverages that do not meet the nutritional standards established by the district may not be operated during the school lunch period.

            b.         School fund-raising activities, such as bake sales, may not be held during the school lunch period.

3.         Annually, the food service coordinator reviews and recommends to the Board the types of foods to be sold as part of the school lunch program.

Students With Special Dietary Needs

At the beginning of each school year, or at the time of enrollment, parents are responsible for communicating any special dietary needs of their child, including food allergies, to the district.  Students with dietary needs that quality as disabilities under law will be provided reasonable accommodation.

Substitutions to regular school meals provided by the district will be made for students who are unable to eat such meals due to a qualifying dietary need when that need is certified in writing by the student’s physician.  Such meals will be provided in the most integrated setting appropriate to the special needs of the student.

The nature of the student’s qualifying dietary need, the reason for such need prevents the student from eating regular school meals (including foods to be omitted from the student’s diet), the specific diet prescription, along with the needed substitution, must be specifically stated in the physician’s statement.  The district, in compliance with the USDA Child Nutrition Division guidelines, will provide substitute meals to food-allergic students based upon the physician’s signed statement.

The district shall develop and implement administrative regulations for the management of food-allergic students. Such regulations shall include, but not be limited to, school wide training programs regarding food allergy education, staff development regarding food allergy identification and management, allergy emergency drills, strategies for the identification of students with life-threatening food allergies, and management skills, including avoidance measures, designation of typical symptoms and dosing instructions for medications.