Roosevelt Union Free School District’s Wellness Policies on Physical Activity and Nutrition

Preamble

Whereas, children need access to healthy foods and opportunities to be physically active in order to grow, learn, and thrive;

Whereas, good health fosters student attendance and education; Whereas, obesity rates have doubled in children and tripled in adolescents over the last two decades, and physical inactivity and excessive calorie intake are the predominant causes of obesity;

Whereas, heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes are responsible for two-thirds of deaths in the United States, and major risk factors for those diseases, including unhealthy eating habits, physical inactivity, and obesity, often are established in childhood;

Whereas, 33% of high school students do not participate in sufficient vigorous physical activity, and 72% of high school students do not attend daily physical education classes;

Whereas, only 2% of children (2 to 19 years) eat a healthy diet consistent with the five main recommendations from the Food Guide Pyramid; Whereas, nationally, the items most commonly sold from school vending machines, school stores, and snack bars include low-nutrition foods and beverages, such as soda, sports drinks, imitation fruit juices, chips, candy, cookies, and snack cakes;

Whereas, school districts around the country are facing significant fiscal and scheduling constraints; and Whereas, community participation is essential to the development and implementation of successful school wellness policies;

Thus, the Roosevelt Union Free School District is committed to providing school environments that promote and protect children’s health, well-being, and ability to learn by supporting healthy eating and physical activity. Therefore, it is the policy of the Roosevelt School District that:

• The school district will engage students, parents, teachers, food service professionals, health care professionals, and other interested community members in developing, implementing, monitoring, and reviewing district-wide nutrition and physical activity policies.

• All students in grades K-12 will have opportunities, support, and encouragement to be physically active on a regular basis.• Foods and beverages sold or served at school will meet the nutritional recommendations of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

• Qualified child nutrition professionals will provide students with access to a variety of affordable, nutritious, and appealing foods that meet the health and nutritional needs of students; will accommodate the religious, ethnic, and cultural diversity of the student body in meal planning; and will provide clean, safe, and pleasant settings and adequate time for students to eat.

• To the maximum extent practicable, all schools in the Roosevelt School District will participate in available federal school meal programs (including the School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program [including after-school snacks], and the Summer Food Service Program.

• Schools in the Roosevelt School District will provide nutrition education and physical education to foster lifelong habits of healthy eating and physical activity, and will establish linkages between health education and school meal programs with related community services.

TO ACHIEVE THESE POLICY GOALS:

I. School Health Councils
• The Roosevelt School District will create, strengthen, or work within existing school health councils, such as the Roosevelt Wellness Committee, to develop, implement, monitor, review, and, as necessary, revise school nutrition and physical activity policies. The Roosevelt Wellness Committee also will serve as a resource to school sites for implementing those policies.

II. Banned Foods/ Special Provisions
• no pork in elementary schools
• no deep frying

III. Nutritional Quality of Foods and Beverages Sold and Served on Campus School Meals
• Meals served through the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs will:

• be appealing and attractive to children;
• be served in clean and pleasant settings;
• meet, at a minimum, nutrition requirements established by local, state and federal statutes and regulations;
• offer a variety of fruits and vegetables;
• serve only low-fat (1%) and fat free milk and nutritionally-equivalent non- dairy alternatives (to be defined by USDA); and ensure that half of the served grains are whole grain.

The Roosevelt School District should engage students and parents, through taste-tests of new entrees and surveys, in selecting foods sold through the school meal programs in order to identify new, healthful, and appealing food choices. In addition, schools should share information about the nutritional content of meals with parents and students. Such information could be made available on menus, a website, on cafeteria menu boards, placards, or other point-of-purchase materials.

• Breakfast To ensure that all children have breakfast, either at home or at school, in order to meet their nutritional needs and enhance their ability to learn:
• Schools will operate the School Breakfast Program.
• Schools that serve breakfast to students will notify parents and students of the availability of the School Breakfast Program.
• Schools will encourage parents to provide a healthy breakfast for their children through newsletter articles, take-home materials, or other means.

Free and Reduced-Priced Meals:
Schools 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. Toward this end, schools may utilize electronic identification and payment systems; provide meals at no charge to all children, regardless of income; (peanut butter and jelly) promote the availability of school meals to all students; and/or use nontraditional methods for serving school meals, such as grab-and-go” or classroom breakfast.

Summer Food Service Program:
Schools in which more than 50% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price school meals will sponsor the Summer Food Service Program for at least six weeks between the last day of the academic school year and the first day of the following school year, and preferably throughout the entire summer vacation.

Meal Times and Schedule Schools:
• will provide students with at least 10 minutes to eat after sitting down for breakfast and 20 minutes after sifting down for lunch;
• should schedule meal periods at appropriate times, e.g., lunch should be scheduled between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.;
• should not schedule tutoring, club, or organizational meetings or activities during mealtimes, unless students may eat during such activities
• will schedule lunch periods to follow recess periods (in elementary schools);
• will provide students access to hand washing or hand sanitizing before they eat meals or snacks; and
• should take reasonable steps to accommodate the tooth-brushing regimens of students with special oral health needs (e.g., orthodontia or high tooth decay risk).

Qualifications of School Food Service Staff
Qualified nutrition professionals will administer the school meal programs. As part of the school district’s responsibility to operate a food service program, we will provide continuing professional development for all nutrition professionals in schools. Staff development programs should include appropriate certification and/or training programs for child nutrition directors, school nutrition managers, and cafeteria workers, according to their levels of responsibility.

Sharing of Foods and Beverages
Schools should discourage students from sharing their foods or beverages with one another during meal or snack times, given concerns about allergies and other restrictions on some children’s diets.
Foods and Beverages Sold Individually (i.e., foods sold outside of
reimbursable school meals, such as through vending machines, cafeteria a
la carte [snack] lines, fundraisers, school stores, etc.)

Elementary Schools
The school food service program will approve and provide all food and beverage sales to students in elementary schools. Given young children’s limited nutrition skills, food in elementary schools should be sold as balanced meals. If available, foods and beverages sold individually should be limited to low-fat and non-fat milk, fruits, and non-fried vegetables.
School nurses will provide each homeroom teacher with a list of students in his/her
classroom with specific allergies.

Middle/Junior High and High Schools
In middle/junior high and high schools, all foods and beverages sold individually outside the reimbursable school meal programs (including those sold through a la carte [snack] lines, vending machines, student stores, or fundraising activities) during the school day, or through programs for students after the school day, will meet the following nutrition and portion size standards:

Beverages
• Allowed: water without added caloric sweeteners; sports drinks; fruit and vegetable juices and fruit-based drinks that contain at least 50% fruit juice and that do not contain additional caloric sweeteners; unflavored or flavored low-fat or fat-free fluid milk and nutritionally-equivalent nondairy beverages to be defined by USDA);

• Not allowed: soft drinks containing caloric sweeteners; iced teas; fruit-based drinks that contain less than 50% real fruit juice or that contain additional caloric sweeteners; beverages containing caffeine, excluding low-fat or fat-free chocolate milk (which contain trivial amounts of caffeine).
Foods

• A food item sold individually:
· will have no more than 35% of its calories from fat (excluding nuts, seeds, peanut butter, and other nut butters) and 10% of its calories from saturated and trans fat combined;
• will have no more than 35% of its weight from added sugars;
• will contain no more than 230 mg of sodium per serving for chips, cereals, crackers, French fries, baked goods, and other snack items; will contain no more than 480 mg of sodium per serving for pastas, meats, and soups; and will contain no more than 600 mg of sodium for pizza, sandwiches, and main dishes.

• A choice of at least two fruits and/or non-fried vegetables will be offered for sale at any location on the school site where foods are sold. Such items could include, but are not limited to, fresh fruits and vegetables; 11)0% fruit or vegetable juice; fruit-based drinks that are at least 50% fruit juice and that do not contain additional caloric sweeteners; cooked, dried, or canned fruits (canned in fruit juice or light syrup); and cooked, dried, or canned vegetables (that meet the above fat and sodium guidelines).

Portion Sizes
• Limit portion sizes of foods and beverages sold individually to those listed below:
• One and one-quarter ounces for chips, crackers, popcorn, cereal, trail mix, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, or jerky;
• One ounce for cookies;
• Two ounces for cereal bars, granola bars, pastries, muffins, doughnuts, bagels, and other bakery items;
• Four fluid ounces for frozen desserts, including, but not limited to, low-tat or fat-free ice cream;
• Eight ounces for non-frozen yogurt;
• Twelve fluid ounces for beverages, excluding water; and
• The portion size of a la carte entrees and side dishes, including potatoes, will not be greater than the size of comparable portions offered as part of school meals. Fruits and non-fried vegetables are exempt from portion-size limits.

Fundraising Activities
To support children’s health and school nutrition-education efforts, school fundraising activities will not involve food or will use only foods that meet the above nutrition and portion size standards for foods and beverages sold individually. Schools will encourage fundraising activities that promote physical activity. The school district will make available a list of ideas for acceptable fundraising activities.

Snacks
Snacks served during the school day or in after-school care or enrichment programs will make a positive contribution to children’s diets and health, with an emphasis on serving fruits and vegetables as the primary snacks and water as the primary beverage. Schools will assess if and when to offer snacks based on timing of school meals, children’s nutritional needs, children’s ages, and other considerations.

The district will disseminate a list of healthful snack items to teachers, after-school program personnel, and parents.

• If eligible, schools that provide snacks through after-school programs will pursue receiving reimbursements through the National School Lunch Program.

Rewards
Schools will not use foods or beverages, especially those that do not meet the nutrition standards for foods and beverages sold individually (above), as rewards for academic performance or good behavior, and will not withhold food or beverages (including food served through school meals) as a punishment.

Celebrations
Schools should limit celebrations that involve food during the school day to no more than one party per class per month. Each party should include no more than one food or beverage that does not meet nutrition standards for foods and beverages sold individually above). The district will disseminate a list of healthy party ideas to parents and teachers.

See attachments: A and B

School-sponsored Events (such as, but not limited to. athletic events, dances, or performances
Foods and beverages offered or sold at school-sponsored events outside the school day will meet the nutrition standards for meals or for foods and beverages sold individually (above).

IV. Nutrition and Physical Activity Promotion and Food Marketing Nutrition Education and Promotion
Roosevelt School District aims to teach, encourage, and support healthy eating by students. Schools should provide nutrition education and engage in nutrition promotion that:

• is offered at each grade level as part of a sequential, comprehensive, standards-based program designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote and protect their health;
• is part of not only health education classes, but also classroom instruction in subjects such as math, science, language arts, social sciences, and elective subjects;
• includes enjoyable, developmentally-appropriate, culturally- relevant, participatory activities, such as contests, promotions, taste testing, farm visits, and school gardens;
• promotes fruits, vegetables, whole grain products, low-fat and fat- free dairy products, healthy food preparation methods, and health- enhancing nutrition practices;
• emphasizes caloric balance between food intake and energy expenditure (physical activity/exercise);
• links with school meal programs, other school foods, and nutrition-related community services;
• teaches media literacy with an emphasis on food marketing; and
• includes training for teachers and other staff.

Integrating Physical Activity into the Classroom Setting
For students to receive the nationally-recommended amount of daily physical activity (i.e., at least 60 minutes per day) and for students to fully embrace regular physical activity as a personal behavior, students need opportunities for physical activity beyond physical education class. Toward that end:

• classroom health education will complement physical education by reinforcing the knowledge and self-management skills needed to maintain a physically-active lifestyle and to reduce time spent on sedentary activities, such as watching television;
• opportunities for physical activity will be incorporated into other subject lessons; and
• classroom teachers will provide short physical activity breaks between lessons or classes, as appropriate.
Communications with Parents

The district/school will support parents’ efforts to provide a healthy diet and daily physical activity for their children. The district/school will offer healthy eating seminars for parents, send home nutrition information, post nutrition tips on school websites, and provide nutrient analyses of school menus. Schools should encourage parents to pack healthy lunches and snacks and to refrain from including beverages and foods that do not meet the above nutrition standards for individual foods and beverages. The district/school will provide parents a list of foods that meet the district’s snack standards and ideas for healthy celebrations/parties, rewards, and fundraising activities. In addition, the district/school will provide opportunities for parents to share their healthy food practices with others in the school community.

The district/school will provide information about physical education and other school- based physical activity opportunities before, during, and after the school day; and support parents’ efforts to provide their children with opportunities to be physically active outside of school. Such supports will include sharing information about physical activity and physical education through a website, newsletter, or other take-home materials, special events, or physical education homework.

Food Marketing in Schools
School-based marketing will be consistent with nutrition education and health promotion. As such, schools will limit food and beverage marketing to the promotion of foods and beverages that meet the nutrition standards for meals or for foods and beverages sold individually (above). School-based marketing of brands promoting predominantly low-nutrition foods and beverages is prohibited. The promotion of healthy foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products is encouraged.

Examples of marketing techniques include the following: logos and brand names on/in vending machines, books or curricula, textbook covers, school supplies, scoreboards, school structures, and sports equipment; educational incentive programs that provide food as a reward; programs that provide schools with supplies when families buy low- nutrition food pro in-school television, such as Channel One; free samples or coupons; and food sales through fundraising activities. Marketing activities that promote healthful behaviors (and are therefore allowable) include: vending machine covers promoting water; pricing structures that promote healthy options in a la carte lines or vending machines; sales of fruit for fund raisers; and coupons for discount gym memberships.
Staff Wellness

Roosevelt School District highly values the health and well being of every staff member and will plan and implement activities and policies that support personal efforts by staff to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Each district/school should establish and maintain a staff wellness committee composed of at least one staff member, school health council member, local hospital representative, dietitian or other health professional, recreation program representative, union representative, and employee benefits specialist (The staff we committee could be a subcommittee of the school health council.) The committee should develop, promote, and oversee a multifaceted plan to promote staff health and wellness. The plan should be based on input solicited from school staff and should outline ways to encourage healthy eating, physical activity, and other elements of a healthy lifestyle among school staff. The staff wellness committee should distribute its plan to the school health council annually.

V. Physical Activity Opportunities and Physical Education
Daily Physical Education (P.E.) K-12

All students in K-12, including students with disabilities, special health-care needs, and in alternative grades educational settings, will receive daily physical education (or its equivalent of 120 minutes/week for elementary school students and 120 minutes/week for middle and high school students) for the entire school year. All physical education will be taught by a certified physical education teacher. Student involvement in other activities involving physical activity (e.g., interscholastic or intramural sports) will not be substituted for meeting the physical education requirement. Students will spend at least 50 percent of physical education class time participating in moderate to vigorous physical activity.

Daily Recess
All elementary school students will have at least 20 minutes a day of supervised recess, preferably outdoors, during which schools should encourage moderate to vigorous physical activity verbally and through the provision of space and equipment.
Schools should discourage extended periods (i.e., periods of two or more hours) of inactivity. When activities, such as mandatory school-wide testing, make it necessary for students to remain indoors for long periods of time, schools should give students periodic breaks during which they are encouraged to stand and be moderately active.
Physical Activity Opportunities Before and After School

All elementary, middle, and high schools will offer extracurricular physical activity programs, such as physical activity clubs or intramural programs. All high schools, and middle schools as appropriate, will offer interscholastic sports programs. Schools will offer a range of activities that meet the needs, interests, and abilities of all students, including boys, girls, students with disabilities, and students with special health-care needs.

After-school child care and enrichment programs will provide and encourage — verbally and through the provision of space, equipment, and activities — daily periods of moderate to vigorous physical activity for all participants.
Physical Activity and Punishment

Teachers and other school and community personnel will not use physical activity (e.g., running laps, pushups) or withhold opportunities for physical activity (e.g., recess, physical education) as punishment.
Safe Routes to School

The school district will assess and, if necessary and to the extent possible, make needed improvements to make it safer and easier for students to walk and bike to school. When appropriate, the district will work together with local public works, public safety, and/or police departments in those efforts. The school district will explore the availability of federal “safe routes to school” funds, administered by the state department of transportation, to finance such improvements. The school district will encourage students to use public transportation when available and appropriate for travel to school, and will work with the local transit agency to provide transit passes for students.

Use of School Facilities Outside of School Hours
School spaces and facilities should be available to students, staff, and community members before, during, and after the school day, on weekends, and during school vacations. These spaces and facilities also should be available to community agencies and organizations offering physical activity and nutrition programs. School policies concerning safety will apply at all times.

VI. Monitoring and Policy Review Monitoring
The superintendent or designee will ensure compliance with established district-wide nutrition and physical activity wellness policies. In each school, the principal or designee will ensure compliance with those policies in his/her school and will report on the schools compliance to the school district superintendent or designee.

School food service staff, at the school or district level, will ensure compliance with nutrition policies within school food service areas and will report on this matter to the superintendent (or if done at the school level, to the school principal). In addition, the school district will report on the most recent USDA School Meals Initiative (SM) review findings and any resulting changes. If the district has not received a SMI review from the state agency within the past five years, the district will request from the state agency that a SMI review be scheduled as soon as possible.

The superintendent or designee will develop a summary report every three years on district-wide compliance with the district’s established nutrition and physical activity wellness policies, based on input from schools within the district. That report will be provided to the school board and also distributed to all school health councils, parent/teacher organizations, school principals, and school health services personnel in the district.

Policy Review
To help with the initial development of the district’s wellness policies, each school in the district will conduct a baseline assessment of the school’s existing nutrition and physical activity environments and policies. The results of those school- by-school assessments will be compiled at the district level to identify and prioritize needs.

Assessments will be repeated every three years to help review policy compliance, assess progress, and determine areas in need of improvement As part of that review, the school district will review our nutrition and physical activity policies; provision of an environment that supports healthy eating and physical activity; and nutrition and physical education policies and program elements. The district, and individual schools within the district, will, as necessary, revise the wellness policies and develop work plans to facilitate their implementation.

ATTACHMENT 1

There are children in your son’s/ daughter’s classroom with the following allergies:

Therefore, when bringing in snacks please omit the ingredients listed above.

ATTACHMENT 2

Celebrations
Schools should limit celebrations that involve food during the school day to no more than one party per class per month. Each party should include no more than one food or beverage that does not meet the nutrition standards for foods and beverages that are in the District’s Wellness Policy.

Below is a list of suggested healthy snacks:

• Low-fat or nonfat plain or flavored milk, 100% juice, water, flavored/sparkling water
(without added sugars or sweeteners), sparkling punch (seltzer and 100% fruit juice)

• Fruit smoothies (blend berries, bananas, and pineapple)

• Fresh fruit assortment, fruit salad, fruit with low-fat whipped topping

• Dried fruits, such as raisins, cranberries, apricots, banana chips, 100% fruit snacks

• Vegetable trays with low-fat dip, celery and carrots with raisins

• Whole-grain crackers with cheese cubes or string cheese

• Pretzels, low-fat popcorn, rice cakes, bread sticks, graham crackers, and animal crackers

• Angel food cake, plain or topped with fruit

• Bagel slices with jam or fruit

• Pizza with low-fat and vegetable toppings

• Low-fat pudding, low-fat yogurt, and squeezable yogurt

• Ice cold water

• Low-fat breakfast or granola bars

• Low-fat tortilla chips with salsa or bean dip

• Trail/cereal mix with dried fruit and pretzels

• Jello

• Check for food allergies before serving

Roosevelt Wellness Committee Members

Michael Jones, Athletic Director-Wellness Committee Chair

Dr. Gretta Rainsford – School District’s Doctor

Doreen Gladstone-Athletic Secretary

Diana Champlain – High School Nurse

Mary Bryson Robinson – Middle School Nurse

Eleanor Coney - Centennial Avenue School Nurse

Edna Robinson – Ulysses Byas School Nurse

Felicity Chester – Washington Rose School Nurse

Ellen- Canty McEachern - Pre Kindergarten School Nurse

Ellen Davis, Family Nurse Practitioner, Roosevelt School Based Health Center

Vivien Mott, CSW- Roosevelt School Based Health Center

Clifton Edwards, Parent Liaison-Family Support Services

Ilene Eskenazi – Family and Consumer Science Teacher

Emily Moore, Teacher – Middle School Physical Education

Leslie Pieters, Teacher - Middle School Physical Education

Joe Vito, Teacher – High School Physical Education

Thomas Reynolds, Teacher -High School Physical Education

Allison Stiles – Centennial Physical Education Teacher

Crinthia Smith-Hart – Parent Teacher Student Association

Roslyn Prithwie-Yates, CSW – 21st Century Family Support

Pete Marerese - Food Service Supervisor