High School and Extracurricular School Food Essay

This statutory brief addresses impolite or gain campus policies that completelyow steep coach scholars to go glum campus to get and eat intellectual nourishment during their dejeuner decimal points. The brief loftylights prints related to heart-to-heart campus policies and complements the break prohibited efficacious Notes go around Campus dejeuner, which juicylights some of the legal issues related to off campus dejeunereon and the creation of effective insurance insurance addressing this matter. OPEN CAMPUS LUNCH POLICY DECISIONMAKERS Copies of Legal Notes Open Campus Lunch, beping drill nutriment for panorama, and some separatewise related materials ar plain-spoken on the Public Health Advocacy Institute website at www.phaionline. org/ tame nutriment. For to a greater extent on muck around logees, please review single-valued functionping aim victuals.A quick primer, work Boxes at a Glance, is too provided near the remnant of this brief. This issue brief and the legal n superstar and only(a)s will befriend you wiliness your accept Potter Boxa decision-making matrixthat provides a legal and hearty framework and athletic patronageers identify mark legal access points directed towards comer your insurance goal. This brief defines an circulate or off campus polity as 1 that allows select or all students to leave campus during the dejeunereon period to purchase or consume fodder and beverages.Therefore, a prep atomic number 18 day quantify with a modified form _or_ system of government that only allows definite students who meet specified requirements to go off campus is considered to gull an heart-to-heart campus constitution. This brief defines a close campus policy as peerless that does non allow any students to leave campus during tiffin or any other condemnation during the instill day. The focus of this brief is on postgraduate civilizes, although research and data that be given to m ain(a) and lay give lessons students were evaluated in cin ace caseptualisation of this brief. Open and disagreeable campus policies can be set at the acres level by a state poster of nurture or by the states educatetimeing code.Typically, policies argon set at the order level by the tame district board. The district can create base guidelines establishing an overspread campus, but it can superfluously allow the lead-in at each school the authority to make provisions or decide under certain circumstances whether or non to allow off campus privileges. In calcium, for instance, the Stockton incorporate check District board policy makes detailed provisions for present campuses but conk outs the school principal the power to completely close campus if on that point are particularized reasons to do so.In addition to board members, the superintendent is a learn decision-maker because he or she essentialiness implement the boards policies. Off campus policies can excessively be set at the school level by the principal. See legal nones, give instruction Structure, Power, and business From State Laws to High School Handbooks, for additional information. Open campus eateon laws and policies do not exist in a vacuum. Policy goals, community attendant, and specific situational facts must be interpreted into consideration or the law or policy can be rendered use slight, harmful, or ignored.OPEN AND CLOSED CAMPUSES BY THE NUMBERS High schools tend to countenance un wellnessier school feed environments than elementary schools. Open and closed school campus policies soak up the dominance to affect students health, steady-goingty, and security, as well as to influence the school environment itself in these 1 Open Campus Lunch Off the Map Extracurricular School nutrition theatre of operationss. The 2006 School Health Policies and Programs Study showed that nationwide 71. 1 percentage of high school districts and 73.1 percent of hi gh schools had a closed campus policy where students could not leave campus during luncheon or at any other time during the school day (compared with 65. 9 and 73. 4 percent, respectively, in 2000). This is similar to a finding of near 25 percent of high schools having broadcast campuses obtained in spring 2005 by the third School sustainment dietetical Assessment Study (SNDA-III). Percentages can vary by state and athletic field. A 2003 vision of California high schools demonstrate that 46 percent had free campuses, the same as it implant in its 2000 suss out.We conducted a small, informal survey with batch who provided input for Mapping School Food and who clash the school intellectual nourishment environment in Arkansas, California, Massachusetts, and Mississippi. We in addition reviewed notes from interviews conducted in 2007 in preparation for Mapping School Food. The results of the survey are anecdotal evidence to levy this brief and cannot be generalized. A li ttle under one fifth of those surveyed stated that the school or district they worked with had an open campus policy. almost did not have open campuses because they worked primarily with younger students not yet in high school. There is a strong link amongst a students dietary behavior and his or her guess of be imageming everywhereweight. educatees should eat less low-nutrient, energy-dense nutrients and beverages and to a greater extent(prenominal) than fruits, vegetables, and low- or no-fat milk. A study of atomic number 25 secondary school students found a strong link amongst frequency of ingest straight forth aliment and poorer forage choices, resulting in much fatty and sugary nourishmentsand less fruits, vegetables, and milkconsumed. nigh of those we surveyed felt that solid viands and beverages obtained through concession stands, fundraisers, school stores, and off campus lunch periods were unhealthy, and over half believed that students would purchase h ealthier foods if they were available. They thought that most of their students who bought food and beverages near campus did so at chain strong food establishments and minimarts with prepared foods. Depending on what is spined in the cafeteria and school, finish the campus for lunch could eliminate the fast food option and support strengthen good food choices.Foods subsidized by federal chopines must comply with certain nutrition regulations and generally are called program foods, eyepatch all other school food generally can be considered non-program or competitive foods. For more information, see Mapping School Food, in particular Appendix Federal School Meal Programs and its Legal Practitioners Point. The United States Department of Agricultures SNDA-III found that students who participated inthe issue School Lunch Program (NSLP) were more likely to consume fruits, vegetables, and milk.Correspondingly, non-participants were more likely to consume snacks, desserts, and be verages like sodas during the lunch period. Policy changes that restricted non-program foods, implication food obtained through school stores, snack bars, and a la fare options, resulted in a reduction of sugar-sweetened beverages consumed by middle and high school youth. Closed high school campuses alike were linked to an adjoin in alimentation vegetables.However, these initial analyses from the dataset collected during the 20042005 scholastic year must be taken into consideration with one finding of no strong crosstie between school food policies and high school students obesity risk. proceed research into this rich data set is necessary to clarify and foster inform these analyses. Policymakers should explore if resolution campuses for lunch will reform healthier choices and eating habits. The 2003 California High School riotous FoodThe food environment surrounding schools could easily negate school food policies and health education in the classroom, especially in high s chools with an open campus policy that allows students to leave campus during their lunch break. STURM (2008) STUDENT HEALTH, NUTRITION, EATING PATTERNS, AND SCHOOL FOOD The school environment is an important sphere in the development of dietary behavior. Policymakers should craft school food laws or rules that backrest up healthier options while curtail unhealthier options.They also should assess open campus lunch policies because these policies can affect policy goals regarding the school food environment. 2 Open Campus Lunch Off the Map Extracurricular School Food Survey found indications that schools with an open campus lunch policy inform less participation in the NSLP compared to schools with closed campus policies. The SNDA-III reported that 14 percent of high school students who were interviewed about what they ate on a certain day reported that they did not participate in the NSLP because they went off campus to eat lunch.Thus, there is the possibility that closed camp us policies could encourage increase NSLP participation and healthier eating habits. Open and closed campus lunch policies must be examined further in the context of their relationship to school food and student health. There is also a perception issue that demands attention. Regarding open campus lunch policies, one Massachusetts Food Service Director commented, It sends the capacity that school food is not as good as fast food and also there are a great push-down stack of synthetic rubber issues involved with leaving and bring arounding. Some students whitethorn perceive a certain stigma with regard to cafeteria foodparticularly program foodswhich must be corrected. CLUSTERING OF FAST FOOD ESTABLISHMENTS, RACIAL AND SOCIOECONOMIC DISPARITIES food or other establishments clustering around the school should evaluated. School policy must also consider student subgroups that could be disparately impacted by the clustering of fast food establishments and/or the adverse health perso nal effects of overweight. Studies show that fast food restaurants cluster inwardly easy walk of life exceed around schools.A recent study of middle and high schools in California found a direct relationship between fast food establishments being near those schools and the students being overweight. It also found that students within walking distance of fast food restaurants were importantly less likely to say they had eaten fruits or vegetables and more likely to have consumed soda. The study did find a larger association of overweight being associated with fast food proximity for B wishing students which it did not find with other racial and ethnic minority student populations.It also found the same increase association for students in urban schools. Overweight is a health indicant displaying significant disparities amongst racial and ethnic minority youth, as certain groups have higher risks of obesity and resultant health problems compared with others. Studies also have indi cated that low-income and racial minority students can tend to live in communities with less safe streets, poorer facilities, and/or greater access to low-nutrient, energy-dense foods and less access to healthy foods. 1 study examined high and middle schools and their proximity to restaurants, convenience stores, snack stores, and liquor stores. Observing racial and socioeconomic variances, it found that Hispanic students are more likely to go to schools within close Open campus and other school policies should aid student development in all areas including nutrition and health. Fast food availability around schools encourages consumption of low-nutrient, energydense food and could influence students develop decision-making skills and habits regarding nutrition. When crafting school policy, the significance of fastWhile it is important to respect adolescents change magnitude autonomy and decisionmaking skills, research clearly shows that food availability is one of the strongest correlates of food choices in adolescents. NEUMARK SZTAINER ET AL . (2005) In study results publish in 2005, over a thousand, mostly suburban, high school students were surveyed across xx high schools in a region in Minnesota. At least sextet of the high schools had an open campus policy. The study found that students on an open campus were importantly more likely to get their lunches from fast food establishments and convenience stores.It also found that students in upper tier levels purchased lunch from convenience stores or fast food restaurants with greater frequency than students in lower grade levels. The study concluded that school food policies that limit access to low-nutrient, energy-dense foods and beverages are linked with students purchasing these types of food and beverages less frequently. 3 Open Campus Lunch Off the Map Extracurricular School Food walking distance of those types of establishments. That particular study did not find such strong associations amon g other racial groups, except with regard to liquor stores.another(prenominal) study published in early 2009 found that fast food restaurants in vernal York were concentrated in commercial areas and in predominantly Black communities in both(prenominal) low-income and more affluent areas. More data and studies are necessary to clarify the relationship between different establishments proximity to schools and student eating patternsand how racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and other factors are related to fast food establishment clustering, overweight, and health risks. Still, these factors newly have been considered in local land use law, and they should be considered when crafting current school policy.In Los Angeles, an ordinance recently passed that puts a one year moratorium on building new fast food establishments in areas of South Los Angeles, which have large Latino and Black communities. The ordinance was significantly motivated by the city councils concerns about how the pr oliferation of fast food restaurants escalate socioeconomic problems in low-income neighborhoodsand this proliferations impact on food security and childrens health and nutrition. Hopefully, the moratorium will provide time for more permanent regulatory controls to be put in place.See legal notes, Legal InterventionsHolistic Considerations, for additional information. LOCAL BUSINESSES AND ENVIRONMENT go off campus for lunch, said that local businesses donate money to the school, and a closed campus policy would likely cause the loss of those donations. However, in our informal survey, the few people that did work with schools that received donations from local businesses that sell food or beverages did not feel that those donations were a necessary part of the schools overall figure.When nominateing your Potter Box, the facts of the situation will clarify specific concerns, such as local establishments reliance on youths lunch money and whether these businesses donate or contribu te to the high school(s) to an extent that it could impact policy decisions. Local businesses therefore can be attuned to the schools schedule and policies. We always endure when kids arent going to be in school, a pizza bus told a newspaper. When kids are home from school theyre supposeing pizzas, so we schedule another driver. Local businesses also may contribute to the schools in non-monetary ways like monitoring and reporting student behavior. Antioch Unified School District in California is starting a We tippytoe program where local businesses are encouraged to report truancy. Improved median(a) day-to-day attendance results in more monetary support from the government. Programs like We Tip have to be measured against closed campus policies to see which isor if both applied together aremore effective and beneficial to the school.Most of those we surveyed who had experience with off campus policies felt that such policies were popular with local businesses and students an d, conversely, not popular at all with cafeteria staff and food service directors. They also thought their location and community could not accommodate an open campus lunch policy. The outflow of students during the lunch period may cause problems or authorization hazards in the local area. Residents may be worried about students manner of speaking large groups of their peers and congregating in homes or complexes. Schools in rural areas may not have businesses nearby.Off campus lunch can be viewed as a valuable revenue stream for local businesses. One highly profitable fast food location up for sale advertise in 2007 as a factor in its value that it is regain next to a high school which allows off campus lunch time to their students. These businesses may in turn make donations or otherwise support the school. The schools perception of the value of these local business donations could contest with instituting healthier school food initiatives. A principal from Modoc County, Ca lifornia, who estimated that 80 percent of students 4 Open Campus Lunch.Off the Map Extracurricular School Food SAFETY ISSUES, TIME, AND CAR ACCIDENTS Safety issues also factor into determining open and closed campus policy. One Californian who works in nutritional education emphasized that safety issues were concerns especially at the high school where there is an open campus. Newspapers report incidents like fighting, fatal car accidents, mugging, substance detestation and arrest, and sexual assault as occurring off campus during lunch periods. Although these incident evaluate may be relatively small, each incident can have a significant impact on the school and its students.Time is a considerable factor in evaluating a policys safety and feasibility. The lunch period may be too short for students to moderately go off campus for lunch. An overwhelming number of those we surveyed thought that there was not enough time for students to go off campus, buy and eat lunch, and return on time. Some of those surveyed reported having as little as twenty minutes allotted for lunch, and a student article, discussed below in Student Input and Support, averaged a 37 minute high school lunch period. Schools with open campus policies should monitor whether or not the policy affects afternoon tardiness or truancy.Also, time issues may encourage unhealthier eating off campus. One Virginia humans high school has an Off-Site Lunch Contract Senior favor Form as part of its off campus lunch driver permit. The covenant stresses that this is a privilege, limited to seniors and extended lunch days. It requires students not to travel alone, sets area restrictions, and states, There is plenty of variety in fast food establishments within the boundaries provided. Students should choose establishments that can serve within five to ten minutes of your arrival. You should allow at minimum 15 minutes of driving/ put time. In granting the privilege to go off campus for lunch, the sc hool policy seems to encourage students to eat fast food in order for the policy to hold in smoothly and for students to return on time. Traffic accidents are a study concern for many high schools. Student drivers add to lunchtime duty congestion, and students driving to pick up lunch may rush back to class. A study of three North Carolina counties over four geezerhood found that there was a significantly higher rate of risk for car accidents during open campus lunch periods compared to any other time of the day and compared to a county with closed campus lunch.There were also more passengers in the cars during lunch period accidents. Safety concerns and student fatalities during lunch periods have resulted in the object of two New York State assembly bills designed to regulate off campus policy. Student injuries and death that occurred while the students were off campus during the lunch period also have resulted in lawsuits being brought against school districts and officials. See legal notes, Open Campus Lunch Tort Concerns and School Structure, Power, and Responsibility From State Laws to High School Handbooks, for more information.CAFETERIA AND CAMPUS CONCERNS ADEQUATE TIME, FACILITIES, SUPERVISION, AND BUDGET Closing an open campus may give high schools the ability to refocus school food issues like cafeteria breakfast, lunch, vendors, and pissing fountains. One Arkansas School District Nurse commented, My districts do not fatality anything on campus that competes with the federal lunch program. A closed campus could support in a comprehensive approach to improving school food and offering healthy food choices on campus. What are the practical considerations when closing an open campus?About half of those surveyed who had experience with open campus lunch policies thought their school or district, as it stood, could provide lunch to all its students. A few specifically suggested that schools would need to improve food options in cafeterias, exte nd the lunch periods, and expand and renovate facilities for food preparation. A school or district deciding to close a campus for lunch needs to visit the necessary resources are in place before the policy is implemented. 5 Open Campus Lunch Off the Map Extracurricular School Food.The high school or district needs to determine whether the cafeteria and campus can adequately handle a closed campus. For example What kinds of burden will the additional students who used to go off campus for lunch put on the cafeteria? Factors allow Time. Adequate time to eat lunch is a concern in the cafeteria just as much as it is off campus. One California food services staff exclaimed, 30 minutes to serve 3,000 Some cafeterias have to stagger their lunch periods, with students eating lunch anywhere from 1030 a. m. to 200 p. m.The 2006 School Health Policies and Programs Study found students on average have 22. 8 minutes to eat lunch once seated. It also found an increase in school districts that required a minimum seating time for eating lunch once seated. Facilities. This includes cafeteria space, kitchen and food production capacity, etc. The school might want to consider renovations that would suffice accommodate more and even healthier food options or improve the flow of students getting their food. Facilities also include fences and other structures that may be necessary to control a closed campus.A California principal anticipated, All 1,200 students eat at the same time and it would be a nightmare to serve all of these students with the current setup. A California Nutrition Educationalist stated, Closing the campus at the high school has been discussed numerous times in the past with the results always being that it would be too exhausting to close campus and we are lacking in facilities to accommodate the students. Supervision. School officials have a duty to pull off the students on campus.When deciding whether to close a campus, it should be deter-mined whet her there are enough resources and staff to adequately supervise the students during the lunch period. Also, can students leaving and entering the campus be adequately administer? Budget. Foreseeable costs incurred by staff or facilities changes need to be supported by already overextended school budgets. Among the school food decision-makers we informally surveyed, the top two concerns to their district or school were the school budget and the school food budget. This could be a potential barrier to closing a campus.However, closing a schools campus could be seen as an investment in student health, safety, and perhaps monetary return. Most of those we surveyed with open campus lunch policy experience thought that a closed campus would increase cafeteria profit, and none of them thought it would decrease profit. Specific research may be needed for an advocate to determine whether and by how much a closed campus policy could increase cafeteria revenues. Potential impact on student health should also be evaluated. For example How will closing campus affect students eating patterns both on campus and outside of school?What are the choices on a closed campus and how healthy are they? What changes can be made to offer a variety of healthier, appealing food choices? One high school in Missouri was able to close its campus after it moved into a newly built structure that could accommodate serving food to all the students and staff. Yet closing a campus for lunch does not necessarily slip by fast food away, as the food services supervisor contemplated development vendors such as Pizza Hut and Quiznosin part because it helps out the community merchants. Our food service program operates in the black now, whereas it never did before, said Kevin Ivers, Bridgmans superintendent, noting that the high school had added a second lunch period to reduce lines, and overhauled the menu to introduce quesadillas, yogurt, salads and fruit. That enables us to put more money into the classrooms. NEW YORK TIMES ( MAY 2008) A 2008 New York measure article noted that school districts in New York and nationwide were instituting closed campus lunch policies due to car accident-related deaths, injury, and truancy.The Times also anecdotally interviewed specific high schools where closing campuses for lunch had improved attendance for post-lunch classes, increased cafeteria sales by in some cases over 10 percent and 22 percent, and off-key a food service program operating at a loss into a profitable one. However it also cited concerns that closed campus lunch policies were part of a trend in restricting youths and hindering their decision-making experiences. 6 Open Campus Lunch Off the Map Extracurricular School Food STUDENT INPUT AND SUPPORT.Student input and support are particular to a successful closed campus lunch policy. School lunch is a popular topic for high school students. LA Youth, an online student journal that reaches half a million Los Angeles Coun ty youth, published an informal survey a few years ago where student reporters found out Whats for Lunch? in their high schools. Examining twenty four public and toffee-nosed high schools in Southern California, it found that lunch on average lasts thirtyseven minutes. About two thirds of schools had vendors in cafeterias or push carts, and most schools had open campus policies for seniors.Only about four schools had a fully closed campus. The survey also noted types of vendors (Subway, Pizza Hut, and Dominos being the most common), cafeteria menus (Mexican food and sandwiches being popular), and cafeteria food prices. Many students may balk at a closed campus policy, seeing it as restricting their freedom and taking away a reward for good grades, attendance, or other open campus policy requirements. A Californian nursing manager described the toughest obstacles to changing open campus policy as the objections of community stores and restaurants and student protests. Students may be more likely to advocate for open campus policies. After two high school students approached the School Committee, a Massachusetts high school started an off campus fender program open to only seniors in good standing. At the time, key issues or concerns with the program were safety, student initiative/input, incentives for students to improve grades and behavior, monetary impact on school food, student nutrition, rewarding children with junk food, and potentially breeding responsibility and time management.While the pilot program and these issues were being discussed in 2004, the high school currently allows seniors who meet certain requirements off campus lunch privileges. another(prenominal) students have opened up online forums such as MySpace mental object boards to discuss and protest their schools attempts to close their campus for lunch. An advocate pursuit to change a high school or districts off campus lunch policy may consider surveying or interviewing students to find out what is important to them so as to determine potential sources of student support.These tools also could be useful infinding what influences students food and beverage choicessuch as cost, certain tastes, convenience in order to make healthy choices in school food more appealing. Another LA Youth article discussed a student having informal every week potlucks with friends that focused on food adventure and not on eating healthier foods. This could nonetheless spark ideas and discussions about using similar methods to promote healthier eating programs and deciding what types of equipment could be helpful, such as microwaves and secured refrigerators. Other student newspapers have covered open campus policies.One student reporter, who found that fifteen out of twenty students surveyed ate daily at gob in the Box, Wendys, or McDonalds, recommended that her high school ban off-campus lunch, and improve the food in our school cafeteria. Most of those we surveyed were involved with schools that had nutrition education programs. mayhap encouraging student-led nutritional education projects to supplement or strengthen quick nutrition education programs could lead to some innovative ideas, positive results, and student support for policies like closed campus lunch. LACK OF ENFORCEMENT AND LEADERSHIPThe number one obstacle to implementing the type of food program desired by those surveyed was lack of enforcement of school food policies. The next two obstacles were lack of resources and time constraints in the budgets timeline. One person surveyed recommended to put in policies a way of enforcing any regulations that are mandated. Another who worked in food service in California suggested tougher penalties. A community health nurse medical specialist in Arkansas pointed to the relationship between leadership and enforcement Leadership in schools has to enforce the schools policies or the policy is ineffective. A food service director in Massachusetts stat ed, Lack of funding has resulted in lack of good leadership for the district. Policies on safety, wellness, etc. , have taken a back seat to teacher loss and budget cuts. With our school budget in a deficit and no town support for an over-ride, my personal feeling is we will keep losing students to school choice and cloak-and-dagger schools. For legal analysis on building enforcement and accountability into school policy, see legal notes, Enforcement Issues and Possible Enforcement Mechanisms. 7 Open Campus Lunch Off the Map Extracurricular School Food.OTHER POLICY CHANGE CONCERNS Sources describe open campus lunch for students as a privilege. Policymakers and advocates should stress that off campus lunch is not a right or requirement. If the policy has academic achievement, attendance, and/or other requirements, this policy is also characterized as a reward for students. Advocates may want to consider suggesting alternate rewards. While wellness policies generally do not address off campus lunch policies, perhaps the two should be integrated in order to frame the off campus issue as one of student health.One superintendent told a newspaper that it was hard for one campus to have one rule and another campus to have another. We dont want advantages or disadvantages to going one way or the other. Students also have stated that it was unfair if their campus was closed and neighboring high school students could go off campus for lunch. Perhaps consider a comprehensive district ban. Tradition or culture may be obstacles to changing the policy. As a food service director from Massachusetts noted, Change is never easy. We do not have off campus lunch.However, I worked in a school that did previously and it was very difficult to change even though it was discussed every year YOUR NEXT STEPS To help you with your next steps, this issue brief provides factors that will help you construct your own Potter Box about off campus lunch policy. Hopefully, this brief, the accompanying legal piece, and Mapping School Food will provide you with a strong foundation upon which to construct policy that ful brings your own goals. A blank Potter Box for you to fill out is provided on page 12 of Mapping School Food, or you can make your own.You may also want to consult the mildew Decision-Maker Potter Box on page 13 and the other filled-in Potter Boxes in Mapping School Food. POTTER BOXES AT A glitter BOX 2 Values and Tools BOX 1 Excerpts from Mapping School Food The Potter Box is a four-part square that can help you make informed decisions. While the Potter Box cannot make a decision for you, it can help clarify your options and why you would choose one option over another. We have adapted the Potter Box to help you clarify the interactions between the many factors that affect school food decisions and recapitulation the different factors that affect your own decision making.This modified version of the Potter Box canhelp you understand the law and to id entify key decision-makers. It also demonstrates how the law plays out in real-world situations and the assumptions and concerns that various decision-makers bring to rest on school food policy. Facts List all the facts known about the situation or problem. List the factors that drive your school food decisions. What are the elements that you need to consider when making decisions? What tools do you typically use? How are the solutions to the problem evaluated?