School Nutrition Policy: Will Parents and the Public Know What's Going On?

Berry Friesen, Pennsylvania Hunger Action Center

Two years ago, in preparation for passage of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004, Congress debated a proposal from Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) to limit the sale of snacks and sodas in schools. Not surprisingly, Harkin’s proposal was opposed by the snack food industry. But it was also opposed by legislators who value local control and oppose federal interference in local school administration. In the end, Harkin lost the fight. Instead of his proposal, Congress adopted a more modest requirement. Each school district that participates in the National School Lunch Program must establish “a local school wellness policy” that

  • includes goals for nutrition education and physical activity;
  • includes nutrition guidelines that cover all food available on school grounds and that promote student health and obesity reduction;
  • includes a plan for measuring the district’s implementation of its policy; and
  • is written with input from parents, students, the school food service and the public.

The policy must be implemented by the beginning of the 2006–07 school year.

In Pennsylvania’s General Assembly, legislation authored by Representative Jess Stairs (R-Westmoreland County) would build on this federal requirement. As passed by the House and then amended by the Senate Education Committee, this bill (HB 185) would add the following provisions:

  • school boards would be required to provide opportunities for public comment before approving exclusive contracts for competitive foods and beverages;
  • school districts would be required to update their nutritional guidelines at least once every five years;
  • school districts would be required to include local wellness policies in their strategic plans; and
  • the bill would prohibit guidelines that limit the sale of fluid milk based on fat content.

At Hunger Action, we see all of this as an opportunity for school nutrition policy to finally receive the attention it deserves. If carefully crafted, the new legislation would spotlight important issues and open the door to parents and the public to participate in a problem-solving dialogue.

But there is a problem. While federal law requires school districts to measure progress toward implementing the local wellness plan, it does not require school districts to report this to the public. In conversations with key members of the General Assembly, Hunger Action has proposed that this problem be fixed. According to our proposal, HB 185 would require school districts to annually make available to the public a written status report on implementation of the local wellness policies. This could be done at a board meeting or by posting a report on the district’s website. The report would include information about the district’s utilization of and barriers to student participation in child nutrition programs.

The Pennsylvania School Board Association (PSBA) opposes our suggestion. Its position is that it would be burdensome for school districts to report annually to the public about implementation of school wellness policies. As it stands, HB 185 would require school boards to review their wellness policies once every five years along with their strategic plans.

All of this raises troubling questions. If childhood obesity is a public health crisis, why is there no requirement for parents to be kept informed? If our educational leaders regard an annual report to be burdensome and unnecessary, are they really serious about curbing childhood obesity? And how will parents and the public monitor progress (or lack thereof) on this critical issue?