DUBOIS – The DuBois Area School District Board of Directors were presented with a presentation concerning their school wellness policy on Wednesday night.
According to Sharon Gruver of Nutrition Inc., Gov. Edward G. Rendell recently announced the enactment of a school nutrition incentive program. This law would allocate an additional $6 million for increased meal reimbursements to schools participating in the National School Lunch Program.
To be eligible for the reimbursement, a school would have to follow the state’s guidelines for nutritional standards for competitive foods over the next two years.
There is one part of this policy that the school board was openly not happy with. For students in elementary school who wants seconds, they cannot duplicate any food item at lunch that’s reimbursable. Secondary students would only be able to duplicate one food item.
Gruver gave examples. If an elementary student has a chef salad meal, they cannot duplicate any item from that meal. A tenth grade student who has turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes can duplicate the turkey or mashed potatoes, but not both at the same time.
“Who’s going to keep track,” asked Superintendent Sharon Kirk.
“That’s the problem,” said Gruver.
Gruver went on to say that it could be a few years before they had the technology to keep track of what each person eats when they go back up for seconds.
To qualify for the reimbursement, the school would also have to meet standards for food in vending machines, school stores, classrooms, fundraisers and school parties. Districts are required to meet all guidelines for two years to receive the reimbursement.
“We don’t have to do this,” commented board member Dennis Raybuck.
“No,” said Gruver. “DuBois has its own wellness policy.”
When it came time to vote, the board voted to not fully implement the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s new nutrition standards.
“We are committed to wellness and good choices,” said Kirk. “We need to teach them (students) to make good choices.”