PSB Wellness Policy

PSB ensures student well-being through fresh, nutritious school meals, comprehensive health education, and a commitment to mental and physical wellness for all students.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF BROOKLINE POLICY MANUAL SECTION A FOUNDATIONS AND BASIC COMMITMENTS 9. Wellness Policy (Voted: 9/28/06, #06-88; 12/7/17, #17-102; 6/19/18, #18-60; 2/1/24, #24-08 (Note: policy was moved from PSB Policy Manual Section E: Support Services to Section A: Foundations and Basic Commitments 6/19/18) I. INTRODUCTION The Public Schools of Brookline (PSB) is committed to providing school environments that promote and protect children’s health, well-being, and ability to learn by supporting wellness, good nutrition, and regular physical activity as part of the total learning environment in which children learn about and participate in healthy decision-making. To support this commitment, the following core values guide this policy and its corresponding implementation and procedures: ● Provide a stigma-free meal environment in which all students are provided fresh, nutritious foods that support physical growth and learning. ● Cultivate a school culture that values wellness – the physical and mental health of all its students and their communities – by offering thoughtful, inclusive, and appropriate support and instruction in all schools. ● Provide comprehensive wellness education including but not limited to mental and physical health, nutrition and food literacy, physical activity and physical education, allergy and public health concerns, the impact of social media on mental health, healthy relationships, substance use, peer pressure, body image, and eating disorders. At its very core, comprehensive school health education is about keeping students healthy now and in the future, reinforcing positive healthy behaviors throughout the school day, and making it clear that good health and learning go hand in hand. ● Recognize and accept differences due to mental and physical health or disability, culture, race, religion, language, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or socio-economic status by providing space for public learning, conversation, and discussion. II. FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM OPERATIONS A. Financial Management and Student Access 1. Every PSB school will operate a food service program to ensure that all students have affordable access to the varied and nutritious foods they need to stay healthy and achieve their academic potential. 1 2. The management of food sales on school grounds will be under the management of the school food service program, except for food sold competitively. 3. The food service program will aim to be financially self-supporting. However, budget neutrality or profit generation must not take precedence over the nutritional needs of the students. If subsidy of the food service fund is needed, it should not be from the sale of foods that have minimal nutritional value and/or compete nutritionally with program meals. Conversely, when the program runs a profit, those funds will be re- invested in the program in the form of higher quality food options. 4. PSB will meet or exceed best administrative practices for enrollment, participation, and payment of food, including: ● Developing a coordinated, comprehensive outreach and promotion plan through various methods including social media, etc., directed at both students and families, including a language access component to ensure language-appropriate documents, and highlighting access options for students with disabilities. ● Continuing to collect Free and Reduced meal applications which allows for additional benefits to qualified students and families, such as Pandemic-Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT), even though Massachusetts has permanently passed the Universal Free Meals program for all schools. ● On a regular basis, checking and coordinating with county social services and similar public benefit administering agencies to ensure that every eligible child is enrolled in free/reduced price meal programs. ● Ensuring compliance with the direct certification process for automatically-eligible students. ● Implementing and maintaining pin numbers or similar payment systems in place that accurately tracks the student’s meals for maximum state and federal reimbursement. Free and reduced priced meals will be served and sold in a manner indistinguishable by students or staff from the regularly priced meal. B. Nutrition and Meal Planning 1. PSB Food Services operates within the frameworks of the USDA National School Lunch Program (NSLP), USDA School Breakfast Program (SBP), USDA Summer Food Service Program and other supplemental programs. Every food option served by PSB Food Services meets or exceeds USDA School Breakfast and Lunch guidelines. Further, PSB Food Services operates in accordance with the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 as amended and applicable laws and regulations of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Schools will offer varied and nutritious food choices that are consistent with the federal government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans. (See “Nutrition” for further information.) 2. The PSB adheres to (meets and, when possible, exceeds) state1 and federal2 School Meal Content Guidelines by taking advantage of exemptions for unprocessed fruits 1 https://www.mass.gov/doc/105-cmr-225-nutrition-standards-for-competitive-foods-and-beverages-in-public- schools/download 2 https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-01-26/pdf/2012-1010.pdf 2 and vegetables. The Nutrition Standards in the National School Lunch and Breakfast program (7 CFR Parts 210 and 220) require the availability of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat free and low-fat fluid milk in school meals, and requires that the levels of sodium and saturated fat meet the nutritional needs of school children within their calorie requirements. These improvements to the school meal program, largely based on recommendations made by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, are expected to enhance the diet and health of school children and help mitigate the childhood obesity trend. To the extent that current nutrition science indicates a higher standard is the better practice, the higher standard should be applied. 3. In addition to federal/state nutrition and food services programs, PSB Food Services operates additional available nutrition-related programs and activities including the Farm to School, Breakfast After the Bell, school gardens, etc. 4. PSB Food Services’ objectives are to: a. serve fresh, freshly-prepared, real, minimally-processed and/or organic food without additives when budgetarily possible and available, to every student at every meal. Trans fats are not permitted. b. aspire to make 50% of all meals served in each school plant-based c. use locally- or regionally-sourced foods when available. d. make ingredient, nutrition and allergy information for all foods and beverages, except for fresh fruits and vegetables and other whole foods, readily available to stakeholders (students, caregivers, PSB staff) before purchasing meals, and to caregivers online in advance of the school day. e