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507.9 Wellness Policy

The Chariton Community School District supports a healthy environment where students learn and participate in positive dietary and lifestyle practices. The board promotes healthy students by supporting wellness, good nutrition and regular physical activity as a part of the total learning environment.

The Chariton Community School District will develop a local wellness policy committee. The committee will develop a plan to implement and measure the local wellness policy and monitor the effectiveness of the policy. The Chariton Community School District encourages the involvement of parents, students, teachers (P.E.), and school board members on the wellness committee. The public will be invited to participate in the wellness committee through information posted on the website (www.charitonschools.org) and information included in the CCSD District monthly newsletter. The committee will designate an individual to monitor implementation and evaluate the policy. The District will inform families and the public each year of basic information about this policy, including its content, any updates to the policy and implementation status. The District will make this information available via the district website and/or district-wide communications.
Triennial Progress Assessments
At least once every three years, the District will evaluate compliance with the wellness policy to assess the implementation of the policy and include:
 The extent to which schools under the jurisdiction of the District are in compliance with the wellness policy;
 The extent to which the District’s wellness policy compares to the Alliance for a Healthier Generation’s model wellness policy; and
 A description of the progress made in attaining the goals of the District’s wellness policy.
Revisions and Updating the Policy
 The DWC will update or modify the wellness policy based on the results of the annual School Health Index and triennial assessments and/or as District priorities change; community needs change; wellness goals are met; new health science, information, and technology emerges; and new Federal or state guidance or standards are issued. The wellness policy will be assessed and updated as indicated at least every three years, following the triennial assessment.
The school district supports and promotes proper dietary habits contributing to students' health status and academic performance. All foods available on school grounds and at school-sponsored activities during the instructional day should meet or exceed the school district nutrition standards and be in compliance with state and federal law. Foods should be served with consideration toward nutritional integrity, variety, appeal, taste, safety and packaging to ensure high-quality meals.

The Chariton Community School District will provide nutrition education and engage in nutrition promotion that:

• is offered 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;
• includes developmentally appropriate and culturally relevant participatory activities;
• promotes fruits, vegetables, whole-grain products, low-fat and fat-free dairy products, healthy food preparation methods and health-enhancing nutrition practices;
• offer classroom health education that complements 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;
• provides opportunities for physical activity to be incorporated into other subject lessons.

The Chariton Community School District 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 meals. Toward this end, the Chariton Community School District may utilize electronic identification and payment systems and promote the availability of meals to all students.

The nutrition guidelines will be made available for all food service program foods and will focus on promoting student health and reducing childhood obesity. The Chariton Community School District discourages 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.

Appendix A

Goal #1 NUTRITION EDUCATION
Nutrition education will be 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;
Nutrition education will include developmentally appropriate and culturally relevant participatory activities.

Monitoring and reporting: The committee will analyze the Curriculum Manager information to identify where the health education standards are currently being taught, identify gaps, and recommend areas for improvement. A staff survey will be conducted to identify nutrition education activities by grade level. Curriculum information will be available from each classroom teacher and the office at each building.

Goal #2 NUTRITION PROMOTION
The district will promote fruits, vegetables, whole-grain products, low-fat and fat-free dairy products, healthy food preparation methods and health-enhancing nutrition practices. The district will work to establish community partnerships to promote nutrition.
Monitoring and reporting: The district will monitor the number of articles, tips, and promotional materials made available to students and parents. Information regarding nutrition promotion will be provided annually to the Board of Directors.

Appendix B
Goal #3 PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Daily Physical Education

The school district will provide physical education that:
• is for all students in grades K-12 for the entire school year;
• is taught by a certified physical education teacher;
• includes students with disabilities, and,
• engages students in moderate to vigorous activity during at least 50 percent of physical education class time.

Daily Recess

Elementary schools should provide recess for students that:
• is at least 20 minutes a day;
• is preferably outdoors;
• encourages moderate to vigorous physical activity, and,
• discourages 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.

Chariton Community School District will provide elementary students, K-5, with 30 minutes of physical activity (including recess, classroom activities, and/or PE) daily as required by law. Middle school and high school students will be provided at least 120 minutes of physical activity per week. This can be met with physical education class, school and non-school sponsored athletics, and other activities where the body is
exerted.

Physical Activity and Punishment

Employees should not use physical activity as punishment.
Employees should not routinely withhold opportunities for physical activity as punishment.

Monitoring and reporting: The building principal will be responsible for monitoring the amount of time students are participating in PE and recess activities. A report will be provided to the committee and committee minutes will be available on the food service web page.

Appendix C

NUTRITION GUIDELINES FOR ALL FOODS AVAILABLE ON CAMPUS

School Meals
Meals served through the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs will:
• Will be appealing and meet, at a minimum, nutrition requirements established by state and federal law;
• be served in clean and pleasant settings;
• meet, at a minimum, smart snack nutrition standards, established by state and federal law:
• offer a variety of fruits and vegetables;
• serve only low-fat (1%) and fat-free milk and nutritionally equivalent non-dairy alternatives (as defined by the USDA); and,
• ensure that all of the served grains are whole grain.

Schools should:
• engage students and parents, through taste-tests of new entrees and surveys, in selecting foods offered through the meal programs in order to identify new, healthful and appealing food choices; and
• share information about the nutritional content of meals with parents and students. (The information could be made available on menus, a web site, 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 breakfast program, to the extent possible;
• arrange bus schedules and utilize methods to serve breakfasts that encourage participation, including serving breakfast in the classroom, “grab-and-go” breakfasts or breakfast during morning break or recess, to the extent possible;
• notify parents and students of the availability of the School Breakfast Program, where available; and,
• encourage parents to provide a healthy breakfast for their children through newsletter articles, take-home materials or other means.

Free and Reduced-Priced Meals
The school district 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 meals. Toward this end, the school district may:
• utilize electronic identification and payment systems;
• provide meals at no charge to all children, regardless of income; and,
• promote the availability of meals to all students.

Meal Times and Scheduling
The school district:
• will provide students with at least 10 minutes to eat after sitting down for breakfast and 20 minutes after sitting down for lunch;

NUTRITION GUIDELINES FOR ALL FOODS AVAILABLE ON CAMPUS
• 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).

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

Sharing of Foods
The school district discourages 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 Sold Outside the Meal (e.g. vending, a la carte, sales)
All foods and beverages sold individually outside the reimbursable 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 nutrition standards as required by state or federal law.

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 and will comply with the smart snacks nutritional standards.
Schools will assess if and when to offer snacks based on timing of meals, children’s nutritional needs, children’s ages and other considerations. Parents will be encouraged to bring snacks that comply with the smart snacks nutritional standards. A list of snack options will be provided to parents through the website (www.chariton.k12.ia.us) and the district newsletter.

Water
To promote hydration, free, safe, unflavored drinking water will be available to all students throughout the school day and throughout every school campus. The District will make drinking water available where school meals are served during mealtimes.

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

Food Safety
All foods made available on campus must adhere to food safety and security guidelines.
• All foods made available on campus must comply with the state and local food safety and sanitation regulations.

For the safety and security of the food and facility, access to the food service operations are limited to nutrition staff and authorized personnel

Legal Reference:
Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, 42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq. (2005) Child Nutrition Act of 1966, 42
U.S.C. 1771 et seq., Iowa Code 256.7(29), 256.11(6) 281 IAC 12.5(19), 12.5(20), 58.11

Cross Reference:
504.5 Student Fund Raising
504.6 Student Activity Program
710 School Food Services

Approved August 14, 2006
Reviewed June 15, 2021
Revised June 15, 2021