Wellness Policy Samples
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Mankato
Adopted: March 20, 2006 District 77 Policy 545
Revised:

545 WELLNESS

I. PURPOSE
The purpose of this policy is to assure a school environment that promotes and protects students’ health, well-being, and ability to learn by supporting healthy eating and physical activity.

II. GENERAL STATEMENT OF POLICY
A. The school board recognizes that nutrition education and physical education are essential components of the educational process, that good health fosters student attendance and education, and that healthful eating and physical activity can have a positive impact on student behavior.

B. The school environment should promote and protect students’ health, well-being, and ability to learn by encouraging healthy eating and physical activity.

C. The school district encourages the involvement of students, parents, teachers, food service staff, and other interested persons in implementing, monitoring, and reviewing school district nutrition and physical activity policies.

D. Children need access to healthy foods and opportunities to be physically active in order to grow, learn, and thrive.

E. Students in grades K-12 will have opportunities, support, and encouragement to be physically active on a regular basis.

F. Qualified food service personnel will provide students with access to a variety of affordable, nutritious, and appealing foods that meet the health and nutrition needs of students; try to accommodate the religious, ethnic, and cultural diversity of the student body in meal planning.

III. GUIDELINES
A. Foods and Beverages

1. The current Dietary Guidelines for Americans will be used in planning the availability of all foods and beverages on campus (including concessions and a la carte cafeteria items.) See Attachment A - Food and Beverage Guidelines.

2. Food service personnel will take every measure to ensure that student access to foods and beverages meet or exceed all federal, state, and local laws and guidelines.

3. Food service personnel shall adhere to all federal, state, and local food safety and security guidelines.

4. The school district will make every effort to eliminate any social stigma attached to, and prevent the overt identification of, students who are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals.

5. The school district will provide students access to hand washing or hand sanitizing before they eat meals or snacks and students should be encouraged to use such facilities.

6. The school district will make every effort to provide students with sufficient time to eat after sitting down for school meals and will make every effort to schedule meal periods at appropriate times during the school day.

7. The school district will discourage tutoring, club, or organizational meetings or activities during mealtimes, unless students may eat during such activities.

B. School Food Service Program/Personnel

1. The school district will provide healthy and safe school meal programs that strictly comply with all federal, state, and local statutes and regulations.

2. The school district shall designate the Food Service Director to be responsible for the school district’s food service program, whose duties shall include the creation of nutrition guidelines and procedures for the selection of foods and beverages made available on campus to ensure food and beverage choices are consistent with current USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans. A School District Nutrition Advisory Committee will be appointed by the school board to provide advice to the Food Service Director with these responsibilities.

3. As part of the school district’s responsibility to operate a food service program, the school district will provide continuing professional development for all food service personnel in schools.

C. Nutrition Education and Promotion

1. The school district will encourage and support healthy eating by students and engage in nutrition promotion that is:
a. Offered as part of a comprehensive program designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote and protect their health.
b. Part of health education classes and in other classes where appropriate. See attached Nutrition Education Guidelines.

2. The school district will encourage all students to make age appropriate, healthy selections of foods and beverages, including those sold individually outside the reimbursable school meal programs, such as through a la carte [snack] lines, vending machines, fundraising events, concession stands, and student stores.

D. Physical Activity
1. Students need opportunities for physical activity and to fully embrace regular physical activity as a personal behavior. Toward that end, comprehensive school health education will reinforce the knowledge and self-management skills needed to maintain a healthy lifestyle and reduce sedentary activities such as watching television.

2. Opportunities for physical activity will be incorporated into other subject lessons, when appropriate. See attached Physical Activity and Education Guidelines.

E. Communications with Parents
1. The school district recognizes that parents and guardians have a primary and fundamental role in promoting and protecting their children’s health and well-being.

2. The school district will support parents’ efforts to provide a healthy diet and daily physical activity for their children.

3. The school district encourages parents to pack healthy lunches and snacks and refrain from including beverages and foods without nutritional value.

4. The school district will make available information about physical education and other school-based physical activity opportunities and will support parents’ efforts to provide their children with opportunities to be physically active outside of school.

5. The school district newsletter and school site newsletters may be used to communicate to parents and guardians about the school district’s Food and Beverage Guidelines, Nutrition Education Guidelines, and Physical Education and Activity Guidelines.

IV. IMPLEMENTATION AND MONITORING
A. After approval by the school board, the wellness policy will be implemented throughout the school district.

B. School food service staff, at the school or district level, will ensure compliance within the school’s food service areas and will report to the Food Service Director, the building principal, or the superintendent’s designee, as appropriate.

C. The school district’s Food Service Director will provide an annual report to the superintendent and school board setting forth the nutrition guidelines and procedures for selection of all foods made available on campus.

D. The superintendent or designee will ensure compliance with the wellness policy.

Legal References: 42 U.S.C. § 1751 et seq. (Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act)
42 U.S.C. § 1771 et seq. (Child Nutrition Act of 1966)
P.L. 108-265 (2004) § 204 (Local Wellness Policy)
7 U.S.C. § 5341 (Establishment of Dietary Guidelines)
7 C.F.R. § 210.10 (School Lunch Program Regulations)
7 C.F.R. § 220.8 (School Breakfast Program Regulations)

Local Resources: Minnesota Department of Education, www.education.state.mn.us
Minnesota Department of Health, www.health.state.mn.us
County Health Departments
Action for Healthy Kids Minnesota, www.actionforhealthykids.org and www.actionforhealthykids.org/filelib/toolsforteams/recom/MN Healthy%20Foods%20for%20Kids%208 2004.pdf

MANKATO AREA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Food and Beverage Guidelines

1. Foods and beverages offered over the course of a school week should be nutrient-dense, including whole grain products and fiber-rich fruits and vegetables to provide students a variety of choices to maintain a balanced diet.

2. Foods and beverages available during the school day should include a variety of healthy choices that are of excellent quality, appealing to students, and served at the proper temperature.

3. Foods and beverages available during the school day should minimize use of trans and saturated fats, sodium and sugar as defined by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

4. Food and beverage providers should offer modest portion sizes age-appropriate for elementary, middle, and high school students, respectively.

5. If a la carte foods are available, they should include a variety of choices of nutritious foods, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat or non-fat dairy foods.

6. Nutrition information for products offered in snack bars, activity concession stands, a la carte, vending and school stores should be available when possible. Healthy food and beverage choices should be available at these locations.

7. Carbonated beverages should not be available to elementary school students during the school day.

8. Beverage vending machines will be available to students as permitted by applicable state and federal laws regarding hours of operation. However, carbonated beverages will not be sold until the conclusion of the school day. Student-available beverage machines at East, West, Central and Dakota Meadows schools shall contain a minimum of 75% of selection buttons for juice, water, and isotonic drinks. Carbonated beverages shall be priced at 25 cents more than juice, water, and isotonic drinks. All beverage machines without clear glass fronts shall have generic xteriors approved by the school district. Teachers’ lounges may be exempt from this requirement.

9. School sites will encourage healthy choices for snacks in the classroom, on field trips, and at school picnics.

10. Classroom celebrations should encourage healthy choices and portion control.

11. Schools should encourage fundraisers that promote positive health habits such as the sale of non-food and nutritious food items, as well as fundraising to support physical activity events.

12. Schools will discourage the use of foods or beverages as rewards for academic performance or good behavior (unless this practice is allowed by a student’s ndividual education plan or behavior intervention plan) and will not withhold food or beverages as punishment.

13. Food brought into schools to be served to students must be commercially prepared food items.

MANKATO AREA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Nutrition Education Guidelines

1. School programs should ensure that students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12 receive nutrition education that provides the knowledge they need to adopt healthy lifestyles. Nutrition education should be well-integrated within a comprehensive school health education program and should include instruction that helps students learn more about the importance of various food groups; caloric, sugar and fat intake; healthy cooking methods; the role of diet in preventing health problems; the recognition of the role media play in marketing and advertising foods and beverages; and the relationship of a balanced diet and regular exercise to a healthy lifestyle.

2. Nutrition concepts should be reinforced by all school personnel.

3. Nutrition education should include reinforcement of the importance of physical activity and the health risks associated with a sedentary lifestyle.

4. Staff primarily responsible for nutrition education should be properly trained and egularly participate in professional development activities to effectively delivery quality nutrition education.

5. School districts should provide educational information and encourage healthy eating and physical activity for families, both within the home and outside the home. Family members should be engaged as a critical part of the team responsible for teaching children about health and nutrition.

MANKATO AREA PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Physical Activity and Education Guidelines

1. Students from kindergarten through grade 10 will receive regular, age-appropriate physical education. Students in grades 11-12 will have elective physical education opportunities.

2. Physical education should be designed to build interest and proficiency in the skills, knowledge and attitudes essential to a lifelong physically active lifestyle. It should include providing information, fostering a positive atmosphere, encouraging self-discipline, developing motor skills, and promoting activities that can be carried out over the course of students’ lives.

3. The physical education curriculum should be coordinated with the health education curriculum.

4. Physical education should provide safe and satisfying physical activity for all students, including those with special needs.

5. Whenever possible, elementary schools should provide daily recess that encourages physical activity.

6. Schools should provide information to parents to help them promote and incorporate physical activity and healthy eating into their children’s lives.