School Wellness Policy Update

School Wellness Policies On June 30, 2004, the President signed the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004. Section 204 of this law required school districts participating in the national school meals program to establish a local school wellness policy by school year 2006. This was reinforced and expanded in the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010. In June of 2004, President Bush signed the Child Nutrition & WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004. Section 204 of this law stated ALL schools participating in the National School Meals Program MUST have a wellness policy in place by SY 2006. This law was reinforced and expanded upon in the Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010. THEN, earlier this year, a new proposed policy was released. This proposed rule would require all local educational agencies participating in the National School Lunch Program and/or the School Breakfast Program to meet expanded local school wellness policy requirements consistent with the new requirements set forth in section 204 of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. Please keep in mind this is a PROPOSED policy and is not yet required. The new section is still open for comments and a finalized policy will be released later this year or early 2015. USDA saw a need for action. This new section requires local educational agencies (LEAs)/schools to establish more comprehensive local wellness policies. The proposed rule adds to the scope of existing wellness policies and provides guidelines for local educational agencies and the Department regarding their roles in these policies, as required by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The proposed rule strengthens the requirements for the local wellness policies and puts more emphasis on policy implementation.

School Wellness Policies Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (HHFKA) now requires that the local school wellness policy, at a minimum, include the following requirements…

Wellness Policy Requirements Wellness Committee consisting of… Parents Students School Food Authority Representatives PE Teachers School Health Professionals School Board School Administrators General Public

HCS SHAC Committee Administrators – Alison Francis, Aleasa Glance, Alex Mascriarelli, & Mark Shepard. Student – Shelby Glance, THS School Nurses School Board – Chuck Francis Social Workers Community Partners - Healthy Haywood, Parks & Rec, Smokey Mountain Center, Mountain Wise, Meridian, Cooperative Extension, Health Department & HC Sheriff’s Dept.

Wellness Policy Requirements Content for… Nutrition Promotion Nutrition Education Physical Activity Other School-Based Activities that promote student wellness

Wellness Policy Requirements Monitor, Assess, & Evaluate Have a plan for measuring effectiveness, that is measured periodically - using an evaluation tool Give an annual progress report to the Board

Wellness Policy Requirements Public Updates Inform & update … Parents students Staff community about the content and implementation

Wellness Policy Assessment Survey

Do you feel like there should be more professional development provided on Mental Health Topics? If so, what would be some topics you would like to see?

What did we learn from the assessment? We need to do a better job of making sure that faculty and parents are aware of the wellness policy and its contents. We are meeting the requirements for Nutrition Standards and Physical Education. Principals would like to have more resources and training on Mental Health.