GUILDERLAND — As the district is making health a new priority, the school board is scrutinizing the grocery list for school lunches.

The school lunch program at Guilderland pays for itself, taking in over $1 million annually.

Last Tuesday, the board tabled a motion to award bids for school-lunch products — usually a routine procedure that passes without comment — as some members objected to so many unhealthy products.

First, board member Colleen O’Connell expressed surprise that the district was selling students 2-percent milk.
"The low-fat milk is by far the greatest quantity we purchase," responded Assistant Superintendent for Business Neil Sanders.
"We don’t sell any whole milk," said Board President William Brinkman.

O’Connell was willing to let the milk and dairy products go, but she dug in her heels when it came to the snacks. Ultimately, the board agreed unanimously to table awarding the bids.

Last year, O’Connell reminded the board, she and board members Linda Bakst and Barbara Fraterrigo had raised the issue of unhealthy foods being served in school cafeterias.

O’Connell said it would be difficult for the school lunch director to defend items like honey buns and fruit gummies.
"I’m disappointed people haven’t listened to what we said a year ago," O’Connell asserted.
"Certainly, there’s an effort to move away from those products," responded Sanders. He said that healthier snacks are promoted at the elementary level and, once those students are educated, it will work up to the higher levels.

In light of the district’s new priority to promote healthy choices, board member Richard Weisz moved to table the motion. He also said that dropping all unhealthy snacks overnight could create a cash-flow problem.

Bakst seconded Weisz’s motion.

Brinkman asked how long a company would hold a bid. Sanders answered, typically 30 to 60 days. And, he said, changes could be made among the choices as long as the dollar value remained the same.

March presentation

In March, at the board’s request, Linda Mossop, school lunch director, made a presentation to the board during which Fraterrigo questioned whether the drive to make profits might cause unhealthy foods to be offered.
"This is a self-sustaining program," she said, stating that is one reason she’s been given that all the snacks can’t be eliminated.

Mossop had outlined the 30 menu choices at the high school each day, the 26 at the middle school, and the six at the elementary schools. Guilderland’s menu choices, Mossop said, not only meet but exceed state standards.
"You have children that are literally eating six chocolate chip cookies for their lunch even though Mom and Dad think they’re eating one of those really great lunches," Fraterrigo said. "The program has to pay for itself."
Superintendent Gregory Aidala confirmed that the school lunch program is separate from the rest of the budget. "It’s still operating in the black, which I think is a good thing," he said.

Profits from the lunch program pay for a number of things, Mossop said, including: employees’ health insurance; workmen’s compensation; all equipment and repairs; and part of the water, electric, and custodial fees.
"I would really like to keep it self-sufficient," Mossop said. "I’d hate to see it go out for budget vote and make it a burden on the taxpayers."
She concluded, "I want to do whatever I can to make the kids healthy but I also want to have a successful program."

Sanders told The Enterprise that the school lunch program took in $1,149,000 during the 2003-04 school year.
Expenses are paid out of that, he said. "Some years," he said, "if we buy new equipment or if there’s a major repair, it affects the bottom line."
Asked if serving healthier foods cuts into profits, Sanders said, "We’re selling less snacks overall as we’ve gotten healthier snack choices."

Moving forward
Towards the end of last Tuesday’s meeting, O’Connell said that, if there is a list of 50 snack items, eliminating four or five a year would take too long to change the culture. She recommended a system being used in New Jersey that, she said, eliminates products with eight or more grams of fat. "If sugar is the first ingredient, it’s out," she said. "I think that’s what we’ve got to do."
"How do we move forward"" asked Brinkman.

Aidala responded that the matter would go back to Mossop.

Other business

In other business, the board:

— Heard from three Guilderland High School seniors who praised their honors physiology course and recommended it not be cut next year.
Alex Chapman said it was the "favorite class" of all three of the students.
"It’s really hard but we learn an incredible amount about the human body," he said.

Chapman said he has been accepted into the eight-year medical program at Siena College and, without the honors physiology course, he didn’t think he would have been.
"It’s challenging but rewarding at the same time," said Henna Boolchandani, who added that she is not going into medicine, but that the course will fulfill a college requirement for her.

Karie Luidens described the course as college-level. She said it was something seniors need and said it was the most challenging course she has taken.
"We agree it’s an excellent class," responded Superintendent Aidala. But, since fewer than 10 students were enrolled in the course, and since a Regents-level physiology course is offered, Aidala said the honors course was cut as the district "wrestled with paring down the budget."
Aidala added that, if there were "a ground swell of support" for the course, the issue could be re-examined.
Fraterrigo said she’d like to "ask the science department to re-think its position," concluding, "It would really, really be a shame to lose it";

— Heard a glowing report from German teacher Hanna Hickey and some of her students about a trip they took to Germany in February as part of the German-American Partnership Program, a first for the district.

In the fall, 16 students from Brandenburg, Germany were hosted by Guilderland families and attended classes at the high school. In February, 20 Guilderland students visited Germany for a similar experience. The Enterprise featured the trip in an earlier edition.
"There’s no better way for students to learn about other cultures than to live in it...The friendships we made were irreplaceable...We learned so many things that cannot be learned in a textbook...This experience was so dear to us and will stay with us throughout our entire lives," senior Erin Parks told the school board;

— Accepted the proposal of Bell’s Auto Driving School to provide behind-the-wheel driver-education services for three years beginning with the 2005-06 school year.

The cost is $275 per student for next year.

The board also appointed Roderick MacDonald as the in-class instructor for the driver-education program for next year. He will be paid $42.79 per hour;

— Received from Assistant Superintendent for Instruction Nancy Andress three state-mandated district plans — the S.A.V.E. (Schools Against Violence in Education) Plan, the Professional Development Plan (on staff training), and the Academic Intervention Services Plan (outlining procedures for assessing and helping students).
The plans must be updated annually and there are no "substantive changes," Andress said. The plans are available at each school, at the district office, and on the district website.

The board is slated to approve the updated plans at its June 24 meeting;

— Heard congratulations for Leonard Bopp, a second-grader at Pine Bush Elementary School, who was selected for a Schenectady YWCA Volunteer of the Year Award. He organized a bake sale which raised $108 for the YWCA’s homeless shelter;

— Heard congratulations for Amy Zurlo, the district’s communications specialist, who had two articles on Guilderland programs published in the spring Journal of the School Administrators Association of New York State;

— Reviewed a policy on student complaints and grievances; and

— Met in executive session to discuss the superintendent’s annual performance review and to discuss a real property issue as well as to hear negotiation updates on six employee groups — teachers’ aids and monitors, teaching assistants, non-instructional supervisors and other management personnel, assistant principals, technology and communications personnel, and district-office administrators.