Approve the District Wellness Policy and Authorize Staff to Advertise the Policy for Public Hearing

In June of 2004, Congress passed the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act or Public Law 108-262, which mandated that all school districts participating in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program implement a local wellness policy by July 1, 2006. At a minimum, the requirement for a local wellness policy must include:

1. Goals for nutrition and health education;
2. Goals for Physical education and activity;
3. Goals for all food available on each school campus; and
4. A plan for measuring implementation of the wellness policy.

In September 2005, a wellness task force comprised of school board employees and community advocates began meeting to address a district-wide approach to building healthy school environments. The proposed wellness policy was addressed at the workshop. Research shows there is a positive relationship between nutrition, physical activity and the capacity of students to develop and learn. Combating poor nutrition and physical inactivity will help schools boost academic achievement, while influencing the development of life-long wellness habits.

Goal 6: All schools in the District will be assigned a state grade of A, B, or C.

The final costs have not been submitted by the Wellness Committee. Estimated expenses for some of the program components have been added to the report. The committee will review estimated costs for each component and finalize their recommendations based upon available resources with the district and the community as a program is developed to implement the policy.

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