Castro Valley Educational Foundation

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Meeting Summary

Wellness Meeting Report

Co-sponsored by CVParents and Castro Valley Unified School District

A New Wellness Policy

Returning to school usually means new teachers, new classrooms, and new friends. This year something else in new.

Schools in Castro Valley and throughout the United States are focusing on child wellness. New policies will be implemented to improve child nutrition, fitness, and overall wellness. CVUSD has assembled a committee of parents, administrators, and professionals to prepare our policy and to develop an implementation plan. The committee is preparing now preparing the rules for implementing the policy.

There is plenty of good reason to look at nutrition and fitness. Childhood obesity is an epidemic in the US. Because so many children now have what used to be called “adult-onset” diabetes, it’s now referred to as “type 2” diabetes. And the long-term effects of extra weight can influence heart disease and other health issues. To combat this epidemic, it is important to work on both sides of the wellness equation: healthy eating and exercise.

“One of the very best things that we parents can do for our children is to help them to learn good eating and exercise patterns,” said noted cardiologist Thomas R. Bersot, MD, PhD, director of the Gladstone Lipid Clinic and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. “Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States, and the really tragic thing that I see happening today is that our young children are well on their way to problems because of poor eating habits.”

Recognizing this problem, Congress passed the “Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004” (now Section 204 of Public Law 108-265) requiring all school districts that participate in any federally funded child nutrition program to establish a locally developed school wellness policy by the beginning of the 2006-07 school year. In effect, the law covers the vast majority of public schools since most participate in federal programs that subsidize school meals for at least some children.

The federal law directs local school districts to include several minimum specific elements in their school wellness policy. 

1. Parents, students, representatives of school food service, the school board, school administrators, and the community must participate in the development of the school wellness policy.

2. The policy must include goals for nutrition education, physical activity, and other school-based activities designed to promote student wellness.

3. It must include nutrition guidelines for all food available on each school campus during the school day.

4. It must assure that the guidelines for reimbursable meals will not be less restrictive than federal regulations and guidance issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

5. Finally, it must include a plan for measuring the implementation of the local wellness policy and must designate persons to oversee its implementation.

State Wellness Guidelines

The California Department of Education published guidelines to help school districts to write their own wellness policies. Click here to view.

CA Dept. of Ed: Healthy Children Ready to Learn
A White Paper on Health, Nutrition, and Physical Education.

Main County School Wellness Samples.
http://www.marinschools.org/Wellness/school_wellness.htm

Why and How is The Policy Developed?

The Why and How of The New District Wellness Policy

Obesity—particular child obesity—and preventable health problems are a concern to everyone and a national topic of conversation. The new emphasis on wellness is an important step in improving the health of our children.

Why now?

The new wellness policy resulted from Congress. They directed all schools that participate in any form of subsidized school lunches to develop a policy that focuses increased attention of nutrition and fitness. California issued state guidelines to assist school districts in developing a policy.

What’s in the wellness policy?

Congress directed that a comprehensive school wellness policy include specific core elements that would promote student health and support the reduction of childhood obesity.

• Acknowledge the relationship between students’ nutrition/health status and their school attendance and ability to learn

• Comply with federal, state, and local legal requirements

• Provide school environments that promote and protect children’s health, well-being, and ability to learn

• Regularly provide physical education and nutrition/health education to foster lifelong habits of healthy eating and physical activity

• Establish linkages between health education, school meal programs, physical education, school health services, counseling and psychological services, related community services, and the other components of coordinated school health

• Address students’ vulnerability to overweight and obesity as well as disordered eating

• Address issues of hunger and food insecurity that m ay have an impact on the health and academic performance of students

School Wellness Policy has five requirements

1. Involvement of School and Community Stakeholders in Developing the Wellness Policy

2. Establishment of goals for nutrition education, physical activities, and other school-based activities that promote student wellness

3. Nutrition guidelines for all food available on each school campus during the school day

4. Assurance that guidelines for reimbursable meals will not be less restrictive than federal regulations and guidance issued by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

5. A plan for measuring the implementation of the local wellness policy and designation of one or more persons in the district or at each school to oversee the implementation of the adopted wellness policy.

Where are we in this process?

Board Policy – adopted June, 2006

As the first step, each school district was required to establish a locally developed school wellness policy by the beginning of the 2006-07 school year. The CVUSD Board of Education established our policy in June.  

Administrative Regulations (AR) – in process

The policy is a rather broad statement of the intent of the Board of Education. To implement the policy, administrative regulations must be formulated that translate the intent of the Board into more specific statements. A committee of school administrators, food service experts, nutritionists, teachers, and parents is now writing the ARs for the District.

School Policy – future action

Once the ARs are completed and approved, each school will develop specific rules for that campus. In a process similar to that at the District level, each school will assemble a committee of administrators, teachers, and parents to develop the rules.

Here are some examples of how the process works.

The Board policy is written in rather broad language:

“The Board shall adopt nutritional guidelines developed by the district in consultation with the Wellness Advisory Committee for  all foods available on each campus during the school day with the objectives of promoting student health and reducing childhood obesity.”

The administrative regulations are more specific:

“The only beverages that shall be sold are:

Water, with no added sweeteners.

Milk (two-percent, one-percent, or nonfat or rice milk, soy milk, or other similar nondairy milk).

Fruit juice, preferably 100 percent but at least 50 percent fruit juice, with no added sweeteners.

Vegetable juice, at least 50 percent vegetable juice, with no added sweeteners.

(Ed Code 49431.5)               

School policy contains the most specific language:

“Beverages at school shall be Dole, Minute Maid, Juicy Juice and other juices that are labeled 100% juice.  No soft drinks are to be sold at school or shared during celebrations”

or

“Beverages sold in the school vending machines shall be Dole juice, Gator Aid sports dinks,  and water.  Soft drinks will no longer be sold on campus.”

Conclusion

Establishing the new wellness policy is a long and careful process. We have started the process, but there is still more work to be done, and there is the opportunity for input from everyone. In the end, the enhanced attention to wellness will help us all to improve the health of our children and of ourselves.