MANDATA - Wellness Wednesday is coming to Line Mountain School District, according to a report given to the school board Tuesday night by Sarah Biegert from Nutrition Inc.
She said the new elementary school concept will begin in October, in which each student will have the opportunity to sample one new food product each month at a designated area of the cafeteria.
When the students sample the food, they will receive a sticker with the phrase, "I tried something new today." Beigert had an example of the table set up at the board meeting in the library.
The goal of the program is to entice students to try new foods and introduce healthy options that are appealing, Biegert said.
The new program relates to the new USDA regulations this year, which were set in motion by the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act and require school districts participating in the National School Breakfast and Lunch programs to offer students more fruits, vegetables and whole grain bread and pastas on their plate for every meal period.
Line Mountain budgeted $559,421, including staff and wages, this past school year for food services, and is expected to pay at least an additional $38,000 this year.
In order to make up the difference, the board set the new prices at 95 cents for elementary breakfast, $1 for junior/senior breakfast, $1.65 for elementary lunch, $1.90 for junior/senior lunch, 55 cents for milk and $2.90 for faculty and staff lunch.
The change to the healthier lunches has been implemented without a problem, Biegert said.
However, Superintendent Dave Campbell expressed his frustration with the federal government mandating how to manage food and wellness, and criticized the 10-cent raise per year to reach the government's goal of $2.50 per meal.
"We're not looking to make money from lunches," he said.
On the other hand, the good thing is that if they can keep high school students from driving quickly to Sunoco for lunch, it would be better, he said.
The board also authorized Crabtree, Rohrbaugh and Associates Architects to seek bids for the high school addition with the heating and cooling units as alternates in the project, and to start testing for the possibility of geothermal heating and cooling at the high school campus.