GUILDERLAND — Everything from how kids exercise to how they eat during school hours comes under a new wellness policy presented to the Guilderland School Board Tuesday night.

The district, like those across the country, is required to have a policy in place by the end of the month.
"We don’t have a person who’s going to monitor everything," said Linda Mossop, food service director, in explaining the policy to the board.

Mossop served on a committee with administrators, board members, teachers, and parents who developed the policy.
"As a committee," Mossop said, "we agreed to use words like ‘encourage’ and ‘discourage.’ ‘Prohibit’ does not appear."
She also said, "The important thing is to have choice."
The committee, Mossop said, first looked at all the Guilderland schools — five elementary schools, a middle school, and a high school — to "see what we actually are doing."
While the district exceeds state nutrition standards and a Hooked on Health Committee has been educating students and sponsoring family activities, she said, "We noticed a 17 percent increase in BMIs from first grade to sixth grade, which put these students in the unhealthy range of over 25."

Body mas index, or BMI, is a measure of body fat based on height and weight. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, a BMI of 25 up to 30 indicates a person is overweight; 30 or greater indicates obesity.
Mossop went on to say, "Our Wellness Policy was developed as a starting point, with compromise and achievable goals."
The policy’s mission statement says that the district "is committed to developing healthy schools that support student learning and create an environment conducive to the health and well-being for faculty, staff and all students, while also supporting parents in accomplishing this goal."

Food

Meals served through the national school lunch and breakfast program will meet state nutrition standards, offer a variety of fruits and vegetables; serve only low-fat milk, and use whole-grain breads when possible, the policy says.
Staff will "make every effort to eliminate any social stigma" attached to free and reduced-price meals, preventing identification of students who are eligible for them, it states.

Students are to be provided at least 10 minutes to eat breakfast after sitting down, and 15 minutes for lunch. They will also have access to wash their hands before eating snacks or meals.

Sharing of food is discouraged because of allergies and other restrictions on some children’s diets.

At the elementary schools, all snacks sold by the district must fall under the Choose Sensibly guidelines of seven grams of fat or less, two grams or less of saturated fat, 15 grams or less of sugar, and 360 milligrams or less of sodium. Students will not have access to vending machines before, during, or after the school day.

At the middle school and high school, half of all food sold a la carte must fall under the Choose Sensibly guidelines; no candy or gum is to be sold on school grounds; and a choice of two fruits or vegetables will be offered at any location where food is sold.
When the elementary schools first changed to 100 percent healthy snacks, Mossop said, "Initially, it slowed down sales, but it picked up again once they got used to low fat and whole wheat."

She also said there hadn’t been any loss of revenues at the high school, but students still have a choice of buying food that doesn’t meet the Choose Sensibly guidelines.

The policy also outlines limits on portion sizes.
Board member Linda Bakst stated she had read an article in The New York Times that said limiting portions could "backfire," leaving kids hungry so they would later make poor choices to fill the void.
Board member John Dornbush responded that he had volunteered to work on the food-service line at Farnsworth Middle School and said of the students who could pick among many fruits, vegetables and hamburgers, "They have all kinds of choices. They will be hungry only if they choose to be hungry."

Fund-raisers and rewards
Outside of food services, the policy discourages bake sales "centered solely on high sugar, high fat, low nutrition food items that present no healthy alternative."
PTA leaders have said, in the past, that sales of sweets make the most successful fund-raisers. Mossop said the Guilderland Music Parents "offer wonderful fruit plates and cheese-and-cracker plates during events" and that the wrestling concessions "provide healthy food choices."
Also, snacks brought to school, the policy says, "should make a positive contribution to students’ and staff’s diet and health," and school stores must follow the policy guidelines.
The district encourages rewarding students with "healthy snacks, physical activity and appropriate non-food rewards and discourages the use of unhealthy sugary, high fat snacks particularly as daily token rewards," the policy says, adding, "Classroom, club, team celebrations and parties, to the extent that they are food events, should reflect the school district’s policy promoting healthy food choices."

Beyond food
The district’s physical-education program follows state learning standards, the policy states, stressing the value of physical activity "as an ongoing part of a healthy lifestyle."

High-school students meet for 85 minutes once every four days, middle-school students meet every other school day for 42 minutes, and elementary students meet for 90 minutes a week.

Extracurricular activities include intramural, extramural, and interscholastic athletics.
"Recess," the policy states, "provides opportunities for physical activities which help students stay alert and attentive in class and provides other educational and social benefits." It also states, "Extended periods of inactivity (2 or more hours) should be discouraged. Whenever possible, alternative consequences for behavioral issues should be explored before withholding recess activities."
The policy outlines district programs for emotional wellness and goes over the importance of staff wellness. It lists maintaining "an environment that is free of tobacco, alcohol and prohibited substances as required by law" and says the district will "ensure all staff members have access to opportunities that enhance their health"
The policy also covers nutrition and health education and states, "The district encourages health and wellness initiatives in the community and supports community outreach efforts...."

Board member Catherine Barber asked about encouraging bike paths and walks.
While Mossop said Barber’s idea was "wonderful," she concluded, "We haven’t gotten that far. We needed a starting point."
"This is just a skeleton," agreed board member Barbara Fraterrigo, who served on the committee. "There’s a lot more meat that, over time, could be added."

She gave as an example of work-out areas for teachers.
Superintendent Gregory Aidala said that the proposed policy will be "shared with building principals next week."
Once the policy is adopted, Aidala said, it will be "posted in conspicuous places," including on the district’s website: www.guilderlandschools.org.
"We feel we will be successful in moving forward," he concluded.
"We’re eons ahead of other districts," said Fraterrigo, praising the work done by the Hooked on Health Committee.
"We had to tamp them down a little," she said, "because they were so excited."