Nanuet School Board Discusses New Nutrition Rules—No Outside Class Food During School

The times have changed and a long, strong tradition of classroom birthday cupcakes is coming to an end. The Nanuet Board of Education met Tuesday night to discuss the new nutritional guidelines set by federal regulations.

The New Rules:

• No home-prepared foods during regular school hours of operation from the time the breakfast program begins until the end of the last lunch period
• After the last period of lunch, schools can switch over and sell high-sugar content food such as soda

“We’re under a set of new guidelines that govern what kind of food can be provided to students from the time the breakfast program begins to the last period of lunch,” said Superintendent Mark McNeill. There are two main issues that this concerns:

1. “There can not be any food sold or provided to students that don’t fall under the nutritional standards and in effect, that don’t go through the food service program.”
2. “The other issue related to this is that there are medical conditions that some students have, whether it be allergies, diabetes, ect. It’s important that nutritional ingredients be available for any food that’s provided or sold to our students.”

“So when you put those two together, it eliminates the long tradition of a parent baking cupcakes, putting sprinkles on top of 22 of them and bringing them in. We can not do it anymore,” said McNeill. “After the last period of lunch, you can switch over and sell high-sugar content food, soda, ect."

"Those foods are considered competitive foods," he continued. "Non-competitive foods are defined as foods that come through the food service program. No competitive foods are allowed between the time breakfast begins until the final period of lunch. Those are the guidelines.”

Effect on Schools

“We’re not blazing new territory. This is practiced more conservatively in districts elsewhere, around the state and the country,” said McNeill. Jay (Newler) indicated that the USDA … would like to prohibit all competitive foods on all school grounds, so that cupcakes would be treated like a cigarette.” Newler is a chef that partnered with the Nanuet schools to implement the new USDA guidelines.

“We cannot provide kids with food without it having a nutrients label. If it were a fundraiser at the high school, one could go to Costco and buy a box of cupcakes that has a nutrients label on it. We would keep the nutrients label and record it for the occasion so that it’s accessible for anyone that wishes to know what was provided to kids. This can be done following the final lunch period,” said McNeill. “I communicated it last night to the PTA council.”

Barr MS

“(Over at Barr MS) this means that the international luncheon, where people bring in from home a Korean dish or Spanish dish, that’s not allowed anymore. People don’t know what’s in the ingredients,” McNeill said.

Elementaries

“We (Auriemma and Smith) have about this issue and it’s been very well received. Young children have a lot of allergies,” said Highview Principal Barbara Auriemma. “Last year, I brought in ices and we couldn’t give it to certain students. We’re just following the nutrition guidelines of federal regulations.”

“If, for example, the PTA wanted to give something to the kids that participated in the Invention Convention, they would have to go through Jay,” said McNeill. “He would find pizza that wasn’t made with whole-wheat crust. Jay is going to try and work with the schools so we can make this as friendly.”

“We need to verify its nutrition and that it’s safe for students,” said Auriemma. “In the elementary schools, there will be no outside food at all during the school day. The only things that we do that we reward children are ices, we have two pizza parties for the Invention Convention as a PTA incentive. Those three thing at Highview, we would work with Jay Newler to supply us with (food within the) regulated, nutritious guidelines.”

“We don’t share at the elementary level for the health concern,” said Miller Principal Betsy Smith. “They’re young children and they may not recognize the food that might not be a choice of their parents. We do not allow them to share in the cafeteria because of their age group and of their safety. There’s also other diversity in our community. As I sit more and more with children in the lunch room, they don’t always share a common background of food so you really have to be sensitive that that could be an issue as well. That could be a religious or cultural reason.”

Q&A

Here are some of the questions brought up at last night's school board meeting:

What if the high school kids bring in pizza to school and give it to other kids?

That’s ok because the students are distributing it and the school is not the one selling or providing it to the students. 

What about the vending machines?

The ones with high-sugar content will not be turned on until the end of the last lunch period.

What about food that’s brought in for sports practices or clubs?

That’s ok because it’s after school hours. There’s a VAASA teacher that brings in pizza and that’s ok because it’s after 2 p.m.

Will there still be birthday parties?

“We’re still going to celebrate birthdays, just in certain ways,” said McNeill.

We’re making crowns, cards and books. It’s kind of like being the child of the day and being the line leader that day. We make a big fuss and sometimes classes have chosen for the parent to come in and read to the class or do a class craft. The parents have been advised to talk to the teacher and work together to make it a special day for the child. But just not food-focused, according to Smith.

What if we write down the ingredients in the home baked cupcakes?

No, the nutritional data needs to be official and printed. It needs to not only show what the ingredients are, but needs to fall within the nutritional guidelines.

What if my child forgets their snack?

We do have a snack for them, something very simple like pretzels, but we have to be careful because there are children who have restrictions on pretzels too. We still have snack time as long as it’s their snack.

What about students that brown bag it?

There’re no restrictions on that. That’s not food that is being provided or sold by the school to the student, that’s food that the student brings in for him/herself.