Health and Wellness Resources

The Carrollton City School District is committed to providing school environments that promote and protect children’s health, well-being, and ability to learn by supporting healthy eating and physical activity, Therefore, it is the policy of the Carrollton City School District that:

● The school district will engage students, parents, teachers, school nutrition professionals, health professionals, and other interested community partners in developing, implementing, monitoring, and reviewing district-wide nutrition and physical activity policies.

● All students in grades K-12 will have opportunities, support, and encouragement to be physically active on a regular basis.

● Foods and beverages sold or served at school will meet the Federal nutrition requirements of the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act and the Smart Snack regulations.

● Qualified child nutrition professionals will provide students with access to a variety of affordable, nutritious, and appealing foods that meet the health and nutrition needs of students; will accommodate the religious, ethnic, and cultural diversity of the student body in the meal planning; and will provide clean, safe, and pleasant settings and adequate time for students to eat.

● To the maximum extent practicable, all schools in our district will participate in available federal school meal programs (including the School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, Snack Program and Seamless Summer Feeding Program).

● Schools will provide nutrition education and physical education to foster lifelong habits of healthy eating and physical activity, and will establish linkages between health education and the School Nutrition Program.

● The school district is committed to implementing a Farm to School initiative focused on serving locally grown foods as defined by the School Nutrition Program. This effort will be supported with nutrition education in the schools.

School Meals

Meals served through the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs will:

● follow the USDA Healthy Hunger Free Kids (HHFKA) regulations;

● be appealing and attractive to children while being served in clean and pleasant settings;

● meet, at a minimum, nutrition requirements established by local, state and  federal statutes and regulations;

● encourage the consumption of foods as recommended by the HHFKA which encourages increasing consumption of a variety of fruits, vegetable, whole grain and low fat/fat free dairy products.

Free and Reduced – Priced Meals

Schools will provide breakfast and lunch meals at a free and reduced-priced rate in compliance with local, state, and federal guidelines.

Summer Feeding Program

In order to provide a seamless summer nutrition program, the School Nutrition Program will offer meals to students during summer academic sessions and will offer meal services to the community at the participating schools and/or approved sites.

Meal Times and Scheduling

● Schools will provide students with adequate time to eat lunch;

● Schools will schedule meal periods at appropriate times depending on class schedules, number of students and other influencing factors. Lunch should be scheduled between 11a.m. and 2 p.m.

● Schools will not schedule tutoring, club, or organizational meetings or activities during mealtimes, unless students may eat school meals during such activities;

● Schools will provide students access to hand washing or hand sanitizing before they eat meals or snacks.

Qualifications of School Nutrition Staff

Qualified nutrition professionals will manage and administer the School Nutrition Program. Continuing professional development should be provided for all nutrition professionals. Staff development programs should include appropriate certification and/or training programs for District School Nutrition Director, managers, and school nutrition assistants according to their level of responsibility.

Elementary School

The School Nutrition Program will approve and provide all food and beverage sales to students in the elementary grades. Given young children’s limited nutrition skills, food in the elementary school should be sold as balanced meals. Snack foods must meet the Federal Smart Snack regulations.

Upper Elementary/Middle and High School

In upper elementary/middle school and high schools, all foods and beverages sold individually outside the reimbursable school meals programs (including those sold through vending machines, student stores, and/or fundraising activities) during the school day will meet the Federal Smart Snack regulations.

Classroom and School Parties and Celebrations

School administrators shall determine ways to highlight seasonal events and birthdays in a way that is age appropriate and provides equal opportunity for each student to be involved. When food and beverages are provided during such activities, the provision of healthy food and beverage choices are recommended.

Fundraising Activities

School fundraising shall be encouraged to offer healthy food choices or non-food sale items. Carrollton City Schools requires that all food fundraising sold during the school day (Midnight to 30 minutes after school dismissal), must meet the fundraising requirements of the Smart Snack regulation set forth by the Healthy Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010. However, fundraising food sales are not allowed during meal service. Concessions after school hours which provide food and beverages during optional school events, talent shows, PVTO events are exempt from the guidelines contained herein, but are encouraged to also offer healthy choices.

Snacks

Snacks served during the school day or in after-school care or enrichment programs must meet the Smart Snack regulation. Schools will assess if and when to offer snacks based on timing of school meals, children’s nutritional needs, children’s ages, and other considerations.

Drinking water availability

All school meal periods must offer access to drinking water for students during meal times. Students are allowed to go to the drinking fountain either in or near the cafeteria during meal times.

Carrollton City Schools aims to teach, encourage, and support healthy eating by students. School should provide nutrition education and engage in nutrition promotion that:

● is 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.

● is part of not only health education classes, but also classroom instruction in subjects such as math, science, language arts, social sciences, and elective subjects (only in instances where health education is part of the state content standards).

● includes enjoyable, developmentally- appropriate, culturally-relevant, participatory activities, such as contests, promotions, taste testing, farm visits, and school gardens;

● promotes fruits, vegetables, whole grain products, low-fat and fat-free dairy products, healthy food preparation methods, and healthy –enhancing nutrition practices;

● promotes Farm to School initiatives and supporting nutrition education;

● emphasizes caloric balance between food intake and energy expenditure (physical activity/exercise);

● links with school nutrition program, and related community services;

● includes training for teachers and administrators.

● integrates physical activity into the classroom to support student achievement.

Staff Wellness

Carrollton City School District highly values the health and well-being of every staff member and will plan and implement activities and policies that support personal efforts by staff to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Such activities may include employee wellness promotion activities and employee health fairs.

Compliance with State Requirements

The Carrollton City School District shall meet or exceed the requirements for physical education as determined by the Georgia Department of Education. All physical education will be taught by a certified physical education teacher. Opportunities for physical activity should not be withheld as punishment.

Recess

The elementary schools housing grades PK-5 should work diligently to provide supervised recess, preferably outdoors, during which schools should encourage all students to participate in moderate to vigorous physical activity with the provision of time, space and equipment.

Schools should discourage extended periods of student inactivity. When school day structures 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 be moderately active.

Physical Activity Opportunities Before and After School

To the extent that staffing and other resources permit, schools shall offer extracurricular physical activity programs, such as sports clubs or intramural programs.

After school child care and enrichment programs will provide and encourage- verbally and through the provision of space, equipment, and activities – daily periods of moderate to vigorous physical activity for all participants.

Implementation and Monitoring

The superintendent or designee will ensure the compliance and implementation with this wellness policy throughout the district. School principals shall be responsible for communicating the contents of this policy as well as implementing this policy in their respective schools. Principals shall report on their compliance as directed by the superintendent.

The School Nutrition Director for Carrollton City Schools shall be responsible for the nutritional component of this policy and shall be the functional expert in school nutrition matters, ensure compliance with nutrition staff and oversee the daily operation of the District’s School Nutrition Program.

Policy Review

Assessments will be repeated every three to five years in order to review policy compliance, assess progress, and determine areas in need of improvement. As a part of that review, the district will review our nutrition and physical activity policies; provision of an environment that supports healthy eating and physical activity; nutrition and physical education policies and program elements. The district, and individual schools within the district, will, as necessary, revise the wellness policies and develop work plans to facilitate the implementation.

Triennial assessment