Policy 7751: Wellness Policy
Teaching and Learning/Wellness
Policy Intent/Rationale:
The South Kingstown School District, in compliance with the new federal and state laws, promotes healthy schools by supporting regular physical activity, good nutrition, and wellness as part of the total learning environment. The District supports a healthy environment where children learn and participate in positive dietary and lifestyle practices. Schools contribute to the basic health status of children by facilitating learning through the support and promotion of good nutrition and physical activity. Food within the school environment should support classroom nutrition lessons. Improved health optimizes student and staff potential for academic performance and helps ensure that no child is left behind. The superintendent or designee in coordination with the building principals shall be responsible for
implementing this policy through their school improvement and governance structure. Research proves that healthy kids are better prepared to learn in school.
The goals of this policy are:
A. Provide a comprehensive learning environment for developing and practicing lifelong wellness behaviors for students and staff in all schools in the district.
· The entire school environment, not just the classroom, shall be aligned with healthy school goals to positively influence students’ understanding, beliefs and habits as they relate to good nutrition and regular physical activity.
· A healthy school environment should not be sacrificed because of a dependence on revenue from high-added fat, high-added sugar, and low nutrient foods to support school programs.
B. Support and promote proper dietary habits contributing to student’s health status and academic performance.
· All foods available on school grounds and at school-sponsored activities before and during the instructional day should meet or exceed the district nutrition standards. Emphasis should be placed on foods that are nutrient dense per calorie. To ensure high quality, nutritious meals, foods should be served with consideration toward variety, appeal, taste, safety, nutrition and packaging.
· Locally grown and produced fruits, vegetables and dairy items should be purchased and served whenever possible.
C. Provide opportunities for students and staff to engage in physical activity.
· A quality physical education program is an essential component for all students to learn about and participate in physical activity.
· Physical activity should be included in a student's day from grades pre-K through 12. Physical activity should include regular instructional physical education, in accordance with The Rhode Island Physical Education Framework as well as recess, extra-curricular, and community activities.
School staff members should model physical activity behaviors.
D. Improving academic performance for all students so that no child is left behind.
· Educators, administrators, parents, health practitioners, teachers, nurses and communities must consider the critical role student health plays in academic stamina and performance and adapt the school environment to ensure students’ basic nourishment and activity needs are met.
· A public awareness campaign that highlights research demonstrating the positive relationship between good nutrition, physical activity, and capacity of students to develop and learn should be conducted. This is to ensure widespread understanding of the benefits to school environments where nutritious foods are provided and where students have an opportunity for physical activity
Health and education have a circular relationship. There is a wealth of information on the relationship between health and academic achievement. Health is crucial for educational success.
All students pre-kindergarten through grade 12 shall have health education as part of their academic experience every year.
E. Establish and maintain a district-wide Coordinated School Health and Wellness Committee which is a sub-committee of the South Kingstown School Committee.
1. Committee membership shall consist of but not limited to:
a. A majority of non-school personnel such as parents, representatives from community agencies, the business community, local and statewide non-profit health organizations and health professionals.
b. A member of the school committee
c. District Food Service Director and dietitian
d. School personnel including but not limited to:
i. School Nurse Teachers
ii. Student Representatives
iii. Staff member representative from each school
iv. District Administration
v. Physical Education and/or Health program leader
vi. Family and Consumer Science Teachers
2 The charge of the sub-committee is to develop and monitor the implementation of this policy and to make recommendations to the School Committee on matters related to the policy.
3. To fulfill its charge, the sub-committee may include but are not limited to:
a. Develop the District Wellness policy.
b. Recommend policy implementation strategies.
c. Serve as an advisory committee to the school committee.
d. Recommend revisions to the policy.
e. Recommend the integration of nutrition and physical activity into the overall curriculum e.g. language arts, write about a health topic, etc.
f. Recommend that staff professional development includes nutrition and physical activity issues every year i.e.: brain gym, yoga briefs, etc.
g. Assure that students receive nutrition education and engage in vigorous physical activity.
h. Promote consistent healthful food choices at all school venues, including after school events.
i. Review annually school improvement plans and goals related to wellness and make recommendations to the School Committee.
j. Provide resources to schools that support policy implementation (e.g. guidance, newsletter articles).
k. Prepare an annual report each year for the school committee that includes, but may not be limited to, the following information:
· Monthly district menus and meal counts.
· Listing of all sales of foods throughout the district including school food service, vending machines, school stores, culinary and special education programs, in-school and in-class fundraisers, etc.
· Listing of physical activity and nutrition programs and opportunities for students throughout the school year by school.
· Listing of staff wellness promotion activities by school.
HEALTH EDUCATION STANDARDS
Student Education:
All students pre-kindergarten through grade12 shall have health education as part of their academic experience every year based on the district health curriculum. The South Kingstown School District shall have a comprehensive, standards-based, sequential health curriculum to coordinate teaching nutrition in Kindergarten through 12th grade. Nutrition education has been shown to improve eating habits and student health. The district aims to teach, encourage, improve health literacy and support healthy eating by students and staff. The school district will participate and foster collaboration with community, statewide and national programs and resources that promote and reinforce nutrition and health including Kids First, Healthy Schools! Healthy Kids! RI Healthy Schools Coalition, USDA, etc.
Parent Nutrition Education:
The school district will provide nutrition education to parents beginning at the elementary level and continuing to educate parents and increase awareness of nutrition importance throughout middle and high school levels. Ways in which this can be accomplished include:
· Nutrition education may be provided in the form of handouts, postings on the district website, articles and information provided in district or school newsletters, guest speakers, presentations that focus on nutritional value and healthy lifestyles, and through any other appropriate means available for reaching parents.
· The district food service company will provide nutrition education on monthly menus and on any other communication to parents and community.
· The school district will participate in community programs that increase awareness to parents and interventions with current nutrition and childhood health issues including the Department of Health, physicians, and hospitals.
· The school district will encourage family involvement to support, engage and promote healthy eating and physical activity habits.
· The school district will provide families with a list of foods that meet the districts nutrition standards and ideas for healthy celebrations, rewards, and fundraising activities.
· The school district will provide opportunities to share healthy food practices in the school setting.
Staff Nutrition Education:
The school district will build awareness and promote among all school staff the importance of nutrition, physical activity and wellness in academic success and life- long wellness. Nutrition and physical activity educational opportunities will be provided to all school staff. These educational opportunities may include, but not be limited to, the distribution of educational and informational materials and the arrangement of presentations and workshops that focus on nutritional value and healthy lifestyles, health assessments, fitness activities, and other appropriate nutrition and physical activity-related topics. School staff responsible for nutrition education will be adequately prepared and regularly participate in professional development activities. School staff will be encouraged to model healthy
eating and physical activity behaviors. The purposes include:
· Encouraging all school staff to improve their own personal health and wellness.
· Improving staff morale.
· Creating positive role models.
· Building the commitment of staff to promote the health of students.
· Building the commitment of staff to help improve the school nutrition.
The school district will promote collaboration with other school and community groups to provide consistent and reinforcing health messages as well as providing support to staff including PTO’s, Park and Rec. Dept., local health care providers, American Heart Association, pediatricians, dentists, etc.
NUTRITION STANDARDS
Nutrition Standards Intent/Rationale: The South Kingstown School District believes that the sale or distribution of nutrient dense foods for all school functions and activities promotes health and wellness. Nutrient dense foods are those foods that provide students with calories rich in the nutrient content needed to be healthy. In an effort to support the consumption of nutrient dense foods in the school setting, the district has adopted the following nutrition standards governing the sale of food, beverage, and candy on school grounds. Where school improvement teams have determined it is in the best interest of the students and staff to exceed these guidelines, the school improvement team guidelines shall be followed.
This policy prescribes what foods are to be served before and during the school day and makes recommendations for time after the school day. This distinction is made because while students are arriving for school and in school there is a greater expectation of guidance and control on the part of the school. During after school activities (for example pot-luck suppers, dances, and athletic events) greater freedom, independence, and parental responsibility are expected. Also, the district has a very limited ability to assure the nutritional and ingredient content of foods provided after the school day.
1. District Nutrition Standards
Foods:
· Encourage the consumption of nutrient dense foods, i.e. WHOLE GRAINS, FRESH FRUITS, VEGETABLES, and DAIRY PRODUCTS.
· Locally grown and produced fruits, vegetables and dairy should be purchased and served whenever possible.
· Any given food item for sale prior to the start of the school day and throughout the instructional day, will have no more than 30% or less of its total calories derived from fat and will have no more that 10% of its total calories derived from saturated fat.
· Added sugar- no more than 30% by weight and 7 grams per serving ounce.
· A la Carte, Vending and all foods sold on campus must be chosen from the District Nutrition and /or A la Carte and Vending Standards which includes food category details.
· Food and Consumer Science courses will follow the approved course curriculum foods.
· Portion size should be reasonable and kept to single servings.
· Whole grains will be offered as often as is possible.
Beverages:
· Low fat or skim milk only, plain or flavored, no more than 32 grams of sugar per 8 ounces. Milk will not contain artificial sweeteners.
· Plain water or carbonated water sweetened with 100% fruit juice only and no added artificial sugars
· Beverages containing 100% fruit juices with no added artificial sweeteners may be sold on school grounds both immediately prior to and throughout the instructional day. They are exempt from the sugar standard.
· Sports drinks with no caffeine will be available only after schools hours and no more than 700 ml.
· Portion size is 12 ounces or smaller except water
2. School Breakfast and Lunch Programs-USDA School Meal Programs:
· The full meal school breakfast and lunch programs will comply with the USDA Requirements for Federal School Meals Programs. The standards may be more restrictive than USDA guidelines but may not be less restrictive. The School Food Service provider will be encouraged to purchase locally grown fruits, vegetables and dairy products whenever possible.
· The School Food Service Program including vending and prepackaged foods sold on campus will follow the District Nutrition Standards and the A la Carte and vending standards when determining the items offered
· The Food Service Director will work closely with the district Wellness Committee.
· The School Food Service Program provider will follow the District's Nutrition Standards when determining the items in a la carte and “competitive foods” sales.
3. Cafeteria Environment:
A cafeteria environment that provides students with a relaxed and enjoyable climate shall be provided. The cafeteria environment is a place where students have:
Adequate space to eat with clean and pleasant surroundings;
Adequate time to eat meals from the time they are seated. (The School Nutrition Association recommends 20 minutes from the time students are seated.)
Convenient access to hand washing or hand sanitizing facilities before meals.
4. Fundraising:
All fund raising projects for sale and consumption within and prior to the instructional day will follow the District Nutrition Standards.
· Fundraising products sold that are baked at home, such as frozen pies, are acceptable as long as they are not to be consumed during the school day. In the case of K-5 students parents or guardians are responsible for picking up the item being purchased.
· No candy will be sold for fundraising prior to or during the school day. Candy is defined as any processed food item that has: sugar [including brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, fructose, glucose (dextrose), high fructose corn syrup, honey, invert sugar, lactose, maltose, molasses, raw sugar, table sugar (sucrose), and syrup] is listed as one of the first two ingredients AND sugar is more than 25% of the item by weight.
· The school district will promote and include in policy guidance healthy fundraising alternatives that promote physical activity and healthy choices.
5. Bake Sales:
During school hours, home-prepared products such as cakes, cookies, cupcakes, brownies, etc. will not be allowed to be shared or sold at any schools in the district in order to support a healthy school environment, to avoid the potential of food borne illness, and to reduce allergic reactions to food.
6. School sponsored events:
For school sponsored events such as dances, athletic events or performances or others events outside the school day, it is recommended that the District Nutrition Standards be followed and water be offered at all such events.
7. Celebrations:
Celebrations are social events that do not substantively advance the school’s curriculum (as opposed to # 8 Food used in the case of curriculum based activities). Neither are they incentive events (as in # 11 Teacher-to-Student Incentives/ Rewards). Birthday or holiday events are examples of celebrations. Due to the importance of providing a supportive environment where students practice healthy behaviors, the following will apply for in school celebrations:
No candy is permitted
No home prepared products such as baked goods will be shared or served.
Parents should not send in foods for celebrations. Non-food items such as stickers, bookmarks, pencils, or other small items are encouraged.
Food based celebrations planned and run by the school, in all grades, must serve food that is nutritious, tastes good and provides students an opportunity for nutrition education experiences and food allergy awareness.
8. Food used in the case of curriculum based activities:
· In the case that food is used in conjunction with the classroom curriculum, the following shall be followed –
o Ingredient lists shall be available for all served food
o Foods and the activity in which the food is used must be specifically linked to the curriculum
o All individuals (students and staff) who bring food into school shall review and follow food safety procedures. Examples of food safety procedures shall be available in Wellness Policy guidance on the district web site. The teacher leading the activity shall assure the distribution and review of the procedures
o Uses of food in curriculum based activities where food augments the curriculum (as opposed to where food is at the core of the curricular goals, such as in Family and Consumer Science) shall be reported to the principal and forwarded to the Wellness Committee
9. School Stores
· Are required to follow District Nutrition Standards and A la Carte standards and
· Staff and students must work and coordinate with School Food Service.
· Fundraising requirements apply to School Stores.
10. School Vending Machines and A La Carte Foods
Any food or beverage for sale prior to the start of the school day and throughout the instructional day, whether sold A La Carte or in vending machines anywhere in the school, will meet the District Nutrition Standards for Vending and A la Carte Foods. Refer to District Nutrition Standards for Vending and A la Carte Foods.
11. Incentives, Rewards, and Recognition:
· Candy is not permitted.
· Food or beverages should not be used as a reward or punishment.
· Opportunity for physical activities is encouraged for positive reinforcement, recognition, and/or reward.
· See Wellness Policy guidance on the district web site for suggestions for non-food incentives.
· Food may be used when found to be essential by a student’s educational program team. In such cases, every effort should be made to make the incentive as nutritionally sound as possible.
· This restriction does not apply to recognition events; however, such events shall utilize balanced, nutritious, and healthy foods.
· This restriction does not apply to activities where incentives are provided as coupons or certificates where after school utilization by younger students is under parent supervision.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY STANDARDS
South Kingstown School District shall provide physical education and physical activity for all students, aligned with the Rhode Island Physical Education Framework, that provide students with the knowledge and skills to lead a physically active lifestyle.
The National Association of School Boards of Education recommends the value of physical activity as an ongoing part of a healthy lifestyle. This includes the development of knowledge and skills necessary to perform a variety of physical activities. Regular participation in physical activity promotes long and short term benefits of a healthy lifestyle.
While physical education and physical activity are often used interchangeably, they differ in important ways, both being necessary to contribute to the development of healthy, active children. The National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) provides the definitions below.
· Physical education, taught through a well defined curriculum by highly qualified physical education teachers, offers the best opportunity to provide physical activity to all children and to teach them the skills and knowledge needed to establish and sustain an active lifestyle. Physical education teachers assess student knowledge, motor and social skills, and provide instruction in a safe, supportive environment. Based on sequence of learning, physical education should not be compared to or confused with other physical activity experiences such as recess, intramurals, or recreational endeavors. A quality physical education program must provide learning opportunities,
appropriate instruction, and meaningful and challenging content for all children. Appropriate instructional practices in physical education recognize children’s development and movement abilities.
· Physical activity is bodily movement of any type and may include recreational, fitness and sport activities such as jumping rope, playing soccer, lifting weights, as well as daily activities such as walking to the store, taking the stairs or raking leaves. Similar health benefits to those received during physical education class are possible during physical activity bouts when the participant is active at an intensity that increases heart rate and produces heavier than normal breathing.
All students, Pre-k through 12, shall be enrolled and participate in Physical Education class according to state standards and that shall meet every semester. No exemptions for athletics or other extra curricular activities.
The district shall establish specific learning goals and objectives for P.E. by following a sequential, developmentally appropriate curriculum, which will be developed, implemented, and evaluated to help students develop the knowledge, motor skills, self-management skills, attitudes and confidence needed to adopt and maintain physical activity throughout their lives and be consistent with state physical education standards.
Adequate facilities and equipment are needed to achieve the objectives of the physical education and physical activity plans for during, before and after school hours.
First Reading: June 13, 2006
Second Reading: August 22, 2006
Adoption: August 22, 2006
Revised: May 8, 2007