School Policies and Programs

NEWSPAPER COVERAGE
Naperville District 203 Beverage and Vending Policy

On November 15, 2004, the Board voted 5-2 to support the following:
"Beginning in 2005-2006, students in our high schools will only be offered healthier snacks, along with milk, water, juices, and beverages without high fructose corn syrup during the instructional day."

Student Opinions
(Support) Daily Herald, Naperville & Lisle - December 3, 2004
(Opposed) Daily Herald, Naperville & Lisle - December 3, 2004

Support for the proposed change:
Naperville Sun (Editorial) - November 17, 2004
Naperville Sun (School Zone) - October 27, 2004
Naperville Sun (Joni Hirsch Blackman) - October 6, 2004
Naperville Sun (Letter to the editor) - October 1, 2004
Naperville Sun (Editorial) - September 25, 2004

Newspaper coverage:
Chicago Tribune - December 9, 2004
Washington Times (UPI) - November 17, 2004
Chicago Tribune - November 17, 2004
Naperville Sun - November 17, 2004
Daily Herald, Naperville & Lisle - November 16, 2004
Chicago Tribune - October 20, 2004
Naperville Sun - October 20, 2004
Naperville Sun - October 19, 2004
Naperville Sun - September 22, 2004
Daily Herald, Naperville & Lisle - September 22, 2004
Naperville Sun - September 21, 2004
Daily Herald, Naperville & Lisle - September 21, 2004

Soda Ban Could Be a Good Idea
Daily Herald, Naperville & Lisle, 12/3/2004
Alison Root
Naperville North High School

On my way to my third-period Spanish class, I usually stop at the vending machines near my locker to grab something that will give me energy after the sleepy start to the morning.

Caffeinated drinks like coffee in the machines are not portable enough to last through the 6-minute shove of a passing period. Generally, price is what deters me from choosing milk or any juice from the machines.

When scrounging for additional change to cover the quarter more cost of Snapple, it takes more time and energy than a busy high school student has during the day.

And so, my choice becomes narrowed based on three things: energy provided, cost and ease of transportation.

My decision usually falls with a caffeinated soda that lies in the $1 range. The (Naperville Unit District 203) school board's decision to ban the sale of soda next year at the high schools during the school day is one that, yes, takes away my right to choose what to drink but actually has many more logical benefits.

What I usually choose to ignore are the detrimental side effects of choosing cola before Spanish. I gain an immediate amount of enthusiasm and then I clearly feel a crash that comes about an hour later. The crash ends up making me more tired and exhausted than I was after the night before with five hours of sleep.

This choice to turn off the vending machines that sell drinks with high fructose corn syrup will clearly help me avoid the fourth-period comatose that drinking soda in the morning gets me. I hope that with the soda machines turned off we will find lower prices for the healthier drinks, as well as better locations of machines.

Currently, the juice machines are located in the boonies of the large cafeteria and the gym.

While the school board might have been hasty in deciding to turn off the machines, it is helping students avoid the empty calories and sugar crashes that hinder their academic progress. Students will no longer buy sugar-laden drinks on impulse or for convenience.

And for the complainers - bring soda from home. It's cheaper anyway.

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Students Can Make Their Own Choices
Daily Herald, Napeville & Lisle, 12/3/2004
Wes Dvorak
Waubonsie Valley High School

You would think a public school could be a little more sensible in its refreshment situation. Turning off pop machines removes not only a source of revenue for the school, but student freedom as well.

During the early 1800s, it was legal to marry at ages as early as 15 without parent consent. Now, in a more civilized, technologically-advanced modern world, our choice of beverages has been cut down at ages 14 to 18?

This ridiculous idea should be discarded immediately as blasphemy.

Tough decisions such as who to date, what college to go to and what shirt to wear are presented to the student body every day. Our one relief is that we get to choose Coke products, Sprite or root beer and swim in its bubbly goodness as it glides down our yearning esophagus.

Whoever is concerned about our health choices should realize enough of our problems come from the media filled with super-models and "cut" bodies.

These famous representatives encourage us to eat a stick of celery with a cube of ice and be full. Hey, at least we are get our veggies right?

But, honestly, as young adults who are perfectly capable of making healthy decisions, we should be the ones who say what we would like to gulp down after a processed chicken patty during lunch. It not only shows everyone believes in the competence of the students, but it is a matter of respect to let us fully govern our own choices.

One to two carbonated drinks is not going to kill anyone. By "encouraging" healthy choices by removing them altogether also "encourages" us to spend our money elsewhere and store the beverages in lockers.

Besides, this ludicrous notion of constant unhealthy decisions is instantly shot down by proper parenting and, more importantly, common sense. Common sense is the salvation to the sane mind - don't ignore it.

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Drinking Soda Pop Bad for Students
Editorial
Naperville Sun, 11/17/2004

We believe that the Naperville School District 203 board did the right thing by voting to limit drink sales to milk, water and 100 percent fruit juices during the school day at the district's two high schools. The change will take effect next fall.

By not selling sugar-laden soft drinks to students during school, the district reinforces its health-oriented message that such drinks are not good for people.

"We often teach best by backing up what we say," school board President Dean Reschke said.

This does not mean that students can't bring soft drinks with them for lunch, only that the district is making a statement by declining to sell them. But we believe that is an important statement, and we commend the district for making it.

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District 203 parent: Sell what you teach
School Zone
Naperville Sun, 10/27/2004
Tim Waldorf

Some want pop removed from school vending machines; others don't. Then there's Marc Swetlitz, a parent of two District 203 students. During the public comment portion of the Naperville School District 203 board's Oct. 18 meeting, Swetlitz suggested that the district model a nutrition program after its new approach to physical education. He noted how high school physical-education students create their own fitness plans, choosing from a variety of four-week classes. This, he said, is the district's way of promoting the habit of daily physical activity as a necessity for a healthy lifestyle. Swetlitz said the district could also have students create personalized nutrition plans, thereby offering healthy food and drink choices while fulfilling the district's responsibility to promote nutritious eating habits. "We should provide healthy options, and let students decide what to purchase," he said. "The snacks and beverages we sell at our schools should be a part of our nutrition program. What we sell in our vending machines should reinforce what we teach in the classroom. Selling healthy products shows students we are serious about nutrition and it provides them with an environment that supports and encourages healthy eating habits."

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Debate not about to lose its fizz
Naperville Sun, 10/03/2004
Joni Hirsch Blackman
Journalist and Naperville mom who is rather hooked on Caffeine-Free Diet Dr Pepper

Pop quiz:

Do you think Naperville Community Unit School District 203's superintendent drinks pop?

A) No, the man obviously detests pop, since he's trying to ban it from District 203 high schools during the day.

B) Not anymore, since he has learned that pop is the root of all evil.

C) No, only obese kids drink pop.

D) Yes, but he's trying to cut down and drink more water.

A few words of explanation before the answer.

The question comes up because there is a bit of controversy over Superintendent Alan Leis' recommendation to the school board that the district's high schools stop offering soda pop and other high-fructose corn syrup beverages to students during the school day.

The subject came up as the district was considering its new five-year contract with a beverage vendor. Though the two topics are separate - the recommendation remains the same no matter which vendor the board goes with - they came up together.

Leis was subjected to a bit of criticism about his suggestion from those who believe that everyone, even high-school students, deserves to have freedom of choice in what they drink during lunch.

Poppycock, I say. Pop is bad for kids, but it tastes good, and if that temptation is available at lunchtime, too many of them are going to choose it. They have free choice at other places they go by themselves, but schools have plenty of rules that other places don't have. Kids are used to this.

Besides, if they get used to drinking something other than pop five days a week at school, perhaps that habit will carry over to some of the rest of their lives.

The other camp suggests that the district continue its nutrition education and simply use that to convince children to avoid pop at lunch. Nice theory, tough execution, even for adults.

Dumb argument, too, I'd say. Why aren't schools selling cigarettes in vending machines on campus? Could be a good source of revenue. They have health classes that decry smoking. Under the same argument, perhaps schools should begin selling cigarettes - only to those 18 and over, of course - since they are, at the same time, teaching kids that smoking is bad.

Ridiculous, you say? So is this idea that it's OK to sell pop to kids all day, and make money on it, all the while telling them, well, it's really better to make another choice.

I applaud Leis' simple solution: Stop selling pop and other high-fructose corn syrup beverages during the school day, and allow the public to buy them from school vending machines after hours. Offer milk, juice, water and other healthy drinks in machines during the day and after school, and we'll all be better off.

Meanwhile, kids whose parents think pop is a great lunchtime beverage can send it in their lunches, no questions asked.

What about the question I asked? The answer is D.

"I do drink pop - Diet Coke - and I drink way too much," Leis graciously admitted when I asked him. "I'm beginning to think a lot more about it now, though, and I'm drinking more water."

True, he has a choice. And so will the kids, when they are adults.

The topic came up, Leis said, from the community. People asked him why the schools were selling pop during the day, and he looked into it.

"I met with our nutrition advisory council and read some things from the American Pediatric Association and used that information to make my recommendation," he said. "In my past life, at my old district, pop was not available to kids during the day. It was thought that they could do without it."

Horrors! Can we take this in Naperville, conspiring to see that kids do without something?

"I also thought that if we were making a push for good health in things like our great strength - PE for Life - it made no sense to me that we sell kids soda and other unhealthy drinks and snacks during the day."

Thank you, Alan Leis. A simple, straightforward and sensible statement that pops.

Incidentally, Indian Prairie School District 204 already keeps its pop machines turned off in the schools during lunch, according to Patt Decker, director of support services.

What happens now? Leis will continue to talk to people in the community about the issue. What opposition is out there feels that kids should be educated and then have a choice in their beverage. The decision rests with the school board.

The beverage contract will be voted on Oct. 16. Also that evening, Leis will bring to the board his recommendations on modifying the district policy on nutrition and on not having the vending machines turned on during the school day next year.

In a couple of weeks, the 203 school board could choose to positively affect the health of thousands of students every school day of the year. Leis, a pop of two himself, has taken a stand.

Here's hoping it wins the popular vote.

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Dist. 203 beverage policy makes sense
DuPage Daily Herald, Fence Post (letter to the editor), 10/01/2004
Marc Swetlitz

I applaud Alan Leis' proposed change in the beverage policy for District 203 high schools.

Limiting sales of carbonated beverages and expanding options for water, milk, juices and beverages without high fructose corn syrup are good changes. The American Academy of Pediatrics agrees.

While overall sales may decrease, several school districts across the country that have made similar changes report no change, or even increased sales.

Successful implementation depends on education and communication, and on student involvement in decision making about what products are sold.

The new beverage policy would not go into effect until August 2005, giving ample time to prepare for success.

In addition, it is important to reiterate that the district is negotiating a new contract. Under this new contract, even if overall beverage sales decrease by 15 percent, the revenue the district receives will be more than it currently gets.

While finances are important, the health of our children is really driving this change.

Our district provides healthy choices for the mind through its excellent curriculum.

It also is committed to building a healthy body through its excellent physical education program.

District 203 should bring its food and beverage policy in line with this commitment so students can choose among a variety of healthy food and beverage products.

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Cutting soda pop at schools is a good plan
Naperville Sun, 09/22/2004
Editorial

We agree with the proposition that sugary soft drinks should be off-limits for Naperville School District 203 high school students during the school day.

That proposal is coming from School Superintendent Alan Leis as the district is looking at awarding a five-year vending machine contract.

Leis told the school board Monday night that "we need to begin reducing the unhealthy snacks that we sell and vend during the school day in our high schools."

Some concern was expressed at the meeting that students' freedom of choice would be hampered if soft drinks would be unavailable at the high school during school hours.

Board member Suzyn Price termed it "overbearing" for the district to make choices for the students and said, "I have been outspoken in my criticism of nanny government ... and I would hate for our school board to become a nanny school board where we eliminate options."

We, too, have concern about "nanny" governments and have expressed this in the past on numerous issues and we believe in general that Price is correct to be concerned.

However, the schools are charged with not only teaching basic curriculum, but with helping students learn to make healthy lifestyle choices.

There are many things at school that are not within the parameter of choices that can be made by students. We don't think that not being able to buy a sugar-laden soft drink during the school day makes a mockery of the concept of free choice. Besides, parents who want to allow their kids to take soda pop to school can always give it to them to take along to school. The district would not be saying that students couldn't drink such beverages, just that it is not going to make them available for sale at the school during the school day.

Given the nationwide concern over obesity and diabetes, we would think that limiting the beverage choices for students in a high school setting while at the same time teaching them about proper nutrition would be a sensible thing to do.

We think that the school administrators, including the school superintendent, who back this proposal are doing so in the best interest of Naperville's students and we would encourage the board to adopt this plan.

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High schools cap pop sales
Naperville district joins the trend
Chicago Tribute, 12/9/2004
Grace Aduroja

If high school students at Naperville Community Unit School District 203 want to slurp down soft drinks and sugary beverages from vending machines next year, they'll have to stay after school. The school district's board voted recently to institute a pop ban in an effort to promote more nutritional choices and curb the growing bulge of student waistlines.

But suburban districts have been tailoring soda-pop embargoes to their communities, where school buildings double as public gathering spots for everything from sporting events to homeowner meetings.

District 203's ban prevents students from buying soda pop only during school hours. Vending machines will be open after school.

In the last two years, large urban school districts nationwide have completely cut the sugary drinks from their buildings, opting instead for fruit juices, milk and water.

Chicago Public Schools joined the pack this spring, choosing not to renew its five-year contract with Coca-Cola. Vending machines filled with Snapple juices, sports drinks and water are slated to be installed in each of the district's more than 600 schools by the beginning of next year. Once the Chicago district makes the transition, there will be "no pop machines in any buildings at all," district spokesman Mike Vaughn said.

But many suburban districts are choosing to allow soft drink sales from the end of the school day. As a result, students in extracurricular activities have been able to buy pop. Suburban administrators say cutting soda pop during school hours helps to curb consumption and trains students to make better dietary decisions.

"I felt that the line was really during the [day] when they are really required to be at the school," District 203 Supt. Alan Leis said. District 203 is banning the sale of drinks with high fructose corn syrup, which includes sports drinks. Soda pop is not sold in the district's junior high and elementary school buildings.

Some suburban districts are eliminating carbonated drinks from their buildings because keeping them for other activities sends a mixed message to students. "It's too difficult to try to pick out times that are appropriate," said John Mirretti, assistant principal of Shepard Middle School in Deerfield. "We figured it would be much easier to eliminate it totally." It's been nearly two years since the Lake County school instituted a pop ban, along with a junk-food ban. As a result, vending revenues have dropped sharply. Pupils can buy anything from baked pita chips to banana yogurt smoothies from an organic-food vending machine.

Administrators at Diamond Lake School District 76 in Mundelein say they aren't concerned about dips in vending profits. They believe the lessons in nutrition are part of a balanced education. "It's certainly worth the small amount of financial sacrifice that we're making," Supt. Roger Prosise said. "If we can help students develop healthy habits then they win in the short and long run."

West Aurora School District 129 officials say getting rid of soda pop machines is not an option, given the frequency of Park District meetings, homeowner association gatherings and events held by local universities in the district's 17 schools. The pop dispensers have remained in buildings primarily for adult use, said Tom Hammond, District 129's chief operations officer. "Obviously it's something for beyond the school day," he said. "During those hours the machines are on."

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School district imposes soft-drink ban
Washington Times, 11/15/2004
(UPI)

Naperville (Ill,) School District 203 is moving toward healthier snacks by banning soft drinks at lunch for students at two Chicago-area high schools.

Chicago's Public Schools removed candy, sugar-filled snacks and canned soda from school vending machines this year, replacing them with baked chips, pretzels, bottled water and juices. A recent study showed 23 percent of children entering elementary school were already considered obese.

The suburban Chicago school board voted 5-2 to phase out soft drinks with high fructose corn syrup. Only water, milk and fruit juice will be sold at lunch, although students packing a lunch from home can bring soda if they wish, the Chicago Tribune said.

Soft drinks were already banned in the district's 19 grade and junior high schools and will not be available to high school students next fall. Soda will continue to be sold at nighttime and weekend school events.

No soda at lunch, district votes
Ban on sales to hit Naperville schools
Chicago Tribune, Special, 11/17/2004
Ken O'Brien

Soft drinks will be banned from the lunch menu for high school students starting next fall in Naperville School District 203.

The school board voted 5-2 on Monday night to accept a recommendation from Supt. Alan Leis to phase out drinks with high fructose corn syrup. The district sells soft drinks to high school students at Naperville Central and Naperville North but does not sell them to pupils in its junior high and elementary schools. Students will be able to buy only fruit juices, milk and water.

In response to a question from a board member, Leis said students still would be able to include soft drinks in homemade lunches. The plan will not affect the sale of soft drinks at public events on nights and weekends in all 21 district schools.

Leis proposed the lunch ban after a study group of parents and teachers recommended the move.

In discussions at the last two meetings, some board members have cast the issue as a matter of choice.

Others said the issue is a concern for the health of students and cited the district's physical education program that promotes exercise as a lifetime habit. "I think kids see that we often teach best by backing up what we say with what we do," board President Dean Reschke said Monday.

Board member Suzyn Price, who has spoken against the proposal, said she visited Naperville North at lunch on Monday and found that soft drinks accounted for one-third of the beverages students were consuming. "Our students have pretty healthy eating habits for adolescents and considering that, it reaffirms my firm belief that removing choices does not teach choice," she said.

The two student ambassadors to the school board, representing both high schools, opposed the soft-drink ban. Citing the right of students to vote, Naperville Central's Allison Funkhouser said it would be "foolish" to take away the choice of soft drinks.

In another matter, board members Tim Costello and Ann Staats announced they would not seek re-election in the spring. Costello, 54, was elected to three terms, starting in 1993, and Staats, 51, was appointed to the board in 1999 and won a term in 2001. Reschke and Debbie Shipley also are up for re-election, though they have not announced their intentions. Costello and Staats announced their retirements as the district opened the period for prospective candidates to pick up nominating petitions at the district office. The filing deadline is Jan. 25, officials said.

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Healthier choices will result from restricted soda sales
Naperville Sun, 11/17/2004
Tim Waldorf

Naperville School District 203 can't keep students from buying and drinking soda, but it can stop selling such drinks to students and it will do just that starting next school year.

The school board voted 5-2 on Monday to stop selling carbonated soft drinks loaded with high-fructose corn syrup to its high school students during the school day. Instead, only milk, 100 percent fruit juices and water will be offered to students in vending machines and lunch lines.

Carbonated soft drinks are not available to students in the district's elementary and junior high schools.

While the financial impact of this decision has been discussed, the board's lengthy debate on this issue for the past few months has been whether its primary concern should be students' health and eating habits or students' options and freedom of choice.

Board member Suzyn Price stood by her stance that the district's role in the matter is to educate students and provide them with the information necessary to make healthy decisions. Noting District 203's high school students aren't obese compared with students across the nation and that soda accounts for only a third of the sales in high school vending machines, she joined board member Tim Costello and both student ambassadors to the board in opposing the move. "It reinforces my firm belief that removing choices does not teach choice," she said. "And we're not stopping the students from bringing the soda in. So, unless we continue to educate, they're still going to drink soda."

However, an e-mail from a district resident that board member Gerry Cassioppi said sounded like "a parent's very rational logic that I consider very reasonable" swayed his opinion, as it did board Vice President Debbie Shipley's. Cassioppi read the e-mail, but did not reveal its author. "To me this is not about eliminating choices so much as it is about modeling values," the e-mail read. "When we make careful choices about what food and drink to offer our children, we show them our own values."

Board President Dean Reschke had similar comments. "We often teach best by sort of backing up what we say by what we do," he said.

Although he opposed the board's decision, Dave Simnick, the student ambassador from Naperville North High School, said students want to eat healthy and he asked that the district do a better job of offering a wider variety of nutritious choices if soda will no longer be sold. "I think what it pretty much boils down to is that teenagers just want a choice," he said.

Superintendent Alan Leis said Sodexho, the school's food-service provider, has already approached the district with new ideas for nutritious food and drink offerings. He said Sodexho wanted to present those ideas to the board, but he decided to postpone such a presentation until after the board's decision on this issue. "I think Sodexho's plan is to start those ideas this school year," Leis said. "So there will be choices coming in before anything comes out."

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No pop sales during school in District 203
Daily Herald, Naperville & Lisle, 11/16/2004
Kari Allen

Naperville Central and Naperville North students looking to buy something to quench their thirst during the school day next year will have to turn to milk, juice or water instead of soda.

After a lengthy debate Monday, the Naperville Unit District 203 school board decided Monday to stop selling beverages with high fructose corn syrup - such as pop - during the school day starting next school year.

It was a 5-2 vote, with board members Mike Davitt, Debbie Shipley, Ann Staats, Gerry Cassioppi and Dean Reschke voting in favor of the move and Tim Costello and Suzyn Price voting against it. Both student ambassadors to the school board also protested the decision.

Superintendent Alan Leis proposed in September that the district stop selling beverages with high fructose corn syrup during the school day. A nutrition advisory committee, led by district head nurse Ellen Wolff, said the move would prompt students to make healthier beverage choices during the school day.

Some board members supported that view. What students choose to consume now could impact their health down the road, board President Reschke said. "I'm very concerned about the health issue," he said.

But Costello questioned how much revenue the district could lose in beverage sales, while Price said the beverage choice should be left up to high school students. "Removing choices does not teach choice," she said.

Naperville Central junior Allison Funkhouser, a student ambassador to the school board, said high school students are old enough to decide what type of beverages to drink at school. "People at our school can vote, yet they can't get a Coke at lunch," she said.

Students still will be allowed to bring soda and other beverages with high fructose corn syrup from home.

Sodexho, the district's food service company, also plans to open smoothie and yogurt parfait bars at both high schools this school year.

Cassioppi and Shipley said a parent e-mail that indicated the district should model good values by offering only healthier beverage choices made sense. Shipley suggested the district also take a close look at the nutritional content of the hot lunches and snacks offered in the school vending machines.

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Naperville vending deal OKd, But schools may limit soft drinks
Chicago Tribute, 10/20/2004
Ken O'Brien

The Naperville Community Unit School District 203 Board has approved a new contract for stocking school vending machines with soft drinks, some of which may be phased out soon because of nutritional concerns.

The board voted Monday night to award the five-year contract to Coca-Cola Enterprises of Chicago. The previous vendor, American Bottling Co., had continued to provide vending services at the district's 21 schools after the old contract expired over the summer.

The revenue estimates depend on whether the vendor will supply soft drinks. The board is to decide at its Nov. 15 meeting whether to adopt a recommendation by Supt. Alan Leis to phase out some soft drink sales after the current school year.

In the 2003-04 school year, the district made $205,000 from vending sales. Under the new contract, the district could make $184,000 to $210,000 per school year. The higher estimate is based on continuing to sell soft drinks.

Last month, Leis told the board that he would recommend that the district stop selling the drinks that contain high levels of fructose corn syrup during the school day. Currently, only students at the district's two high schools, Naperville Central and Naperville North, can buy soft drinks in the day.

If the proposal is approved, students would only be able to buy milk, juices and water, Leis said. The proposal, he noted, would not affect the sale of soft drinks at any school during night or weekend events.

At the start of the meeting, all three people who spoke to the board addressed the soft drink issue, with all supporting the proposed ban. Marc Swetlitz, who has two children in the district, linked the soft drink issue to the district's physical education program, which since 1990 has encouraged students to develop exercise habits.

"Selling healthy products shows students that we're serious about nutrition and provides them with an environment that encourages healthy eating habits," he said.

The board discussed the issue after approving the vending contract. Some board members said the issue is between giving students the chance to make a choice and the desire to promote good health.

In joining fellow board member Suzyn Price in opposing the proposal, Tim Costello said allowing students to make a choice is "part of the educational process." David Simnick, a junior who serves as Naperville North's student ambassador to the board, said students feel that the schools should continue to sell the soft drinks.

"I would love to have healthier choices, but not lose my option to get a piece of pizza with a Coke every once in a while," he said.

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District 203 dilemma: Pop ban or student choice?
Naperville Sun, 10/20/2004
Tim Waldorf

Naperville School District 203 board member Ann Staats said the district's decision on whether it will continue selling pop in its high schools' vending machines is an easy one if nutrition is the primary concern.

"But when I look at our mission statement, then I think maybe we should be allowing students to make a choice," Staats said. "That's what's going to help them become those critical thinkers."

So, during the school board discussion of the matter Monday night, Staats said she's stuck determining what exactly is the district's charge.

"Is it nutrition, or is it the students that will make the good choice?" she asked.

Others on the board have seemingly answered that question for themselves, and they have spoken against Superintendent Alan Leis' recommendation that the district "provide only healthier snacks, along with milk, water and juices, and beverages without high-fructose corn syrup during the high school instructional day, beginning in the 2005-2006 school year."

"I think that is part of the education process, when students are educated and have the right to make a choice," board member Tim Costello said.

Costello and fellow board member Suzyn Price have been vocal opponents of Leis' proposal since he announced it during the Sept. 20 school board meeting.

"I think that they are not going to learn choice if they have no choices to make," Price said Monday. "And this is about soda. It's not about drinking. It's not about smoking. It's about soda."

Board President Dean Reschke agreed that high fructose corn syrup isn't the health hazard that tobacco is, but he still compared the district's pop situation to the dilemma the district once faced with regard to students who smoke.

"Yeah, we don't give kids a choice of whether or not they smoke at school, but you know what? We used to in District 203," he said. "We had smoking lounges outside of our high schools, and we decided to take that away."

He said the board's charge is still to make a decision as to what to expect of students during the school day.

"And sometimes I think we do ask students to reach a little bit and be prepared for school, and we don't give them all those kinds of choices."

The board approved a five-year exclusive vending contract with Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Chicago during its meeting Monday. That contract will allow for the discontinuation of pop sales if the district so chooses.

During the Sept. 20 meeting, Leis said such a decision by the district would likely result in a 20 percent to 30 percent drop in sales. But he also said he believed switching the contract from Dr. Pepper/7-Up to Coca-Cola might actually increase sales.

Leis also said the terms of the new contract are more beneficial to the district. So even if carbonated beverage sales are discontinued, and even if sales drop as a result of that decision, he said the high schools could make as much money via sales commissions and such as they have in the past.

The district made $205,100 off pop sales in 2003-04. According to the district's projections, it could make $210,609 per year under the new contract if it sells the same amount of pop. If it eliminates pop sales, it is projected to make $184,031 per year.

The school board will decide the fate of high fructose corn syrup-based beverages at its Nov. 15 meeting.

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District 203 deliberates on carbonated beverages, presence restriction policy
Naperville Sun, 10/19/2004
Tim Waldorf

The Naperville School District 203 board took a step Monday toward deciding what students can drink, and another step toward deciding what will happen to students who don't drink.

After discussion during Monday's meeting, the school board seemed reluctant to remove carbonated beverages from vending machines in the district's high schools.

However, the board appeared ready to revise the district's co-curricular code to lessen consequences for students caught in the presence of underage alcohol consumption, even though the city of Naperville has yet to tweak its presence restriction ordinance.

"I am personally convinced that students do have in general a sense of which parties will have alcohol, and which won't," Superintendent Alan Leis said. "And I do believe that there should be some consequence for being at those parties, but it should not be the same consequence as students who actually consumed alcohol at the party."

Regardless of any action the city may take, Leis recommended the board revise its policy regarding students in the presence of underage drinking by removing Breathalyzer results from the equation, and leaving the matter in the judgment of school administrators who are accustomed to sorting out matters such as these, with or without the assistance of the Naperville Police Department.

Simply put, a student's nonuse of alcohol would be determined by an administrator.

"It would depend on the believability of the student, the testimony of other students that were there," Leis said. "Would there be some judgment here and some subjectivity? Absolutely."

Those administrators will hand out one-game or one-week suspensions to athletes and club members whom they can prove were present through their investigation of the matter.

Under the current policy, students issued presence restriction tickets must provide Breathalyzer results indicating they had consumed no alcohol at the time of the violation to receive lesser punishments.

The proposed change is scheduled for a vote by the school board at its Nov. 15 meeting, and, if approved, it will be implemented for the start of the winter sports season in early December.

At the same meeting, the board is scheduled to vote on revisions to the district's nutrition policy, and Monday it appeared reluctant to ratify one of Leis' recommended revisions, discontinuing sales of carbonated beverages in high school vending machines at the school year's end.

"We can't legislate choice," board member Tim Costello said.

Costello said making these choices is part of the educational process for high school students.

Suzyn Price echoed Costello's sentiments and said the board would be overstepping its bounds by limiting the beverage options available for high school students.

"This is about soda," she said. "It's not about drinking. It's not about smoking. It's about soda."

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Vending-machine offerings hot-button issue for board members
Naperville Sun, 09/22/2004
Tim Waldorf

Naperville School District 203's high schools sell carbonated beverages in their vending machines. Despite the district's effort to educate students about nutrition and to urge them to eat healthy, students choose to buy those beverages, and the schools profit from those purchases.

Whether that should continue to be the case may be decided at the District 203 school board's Oct. 18 meeting.

Superintendent Alan Leis doesn't think immediately ending soda sales at the district's two high schools would be fair to students, but he thinks the practice should stop next year. He made that recommendation to the school board during its Monday meeting.

"I think we have to have a goal of selling healthier snacks, selling milk, water, juices and beverages without high-fructose corn syrup during the school day," Leis told the board. "And I'd like us to have those in place for the start of next school year so that we have some lead time to combine this with education, and not just pull a switch."

His recommendation, which contradicted the input he received from high school administrators, drew criticism from some school board members.

"I agree with you that we need to provide acceptable and quality alternatives for children," board member Suzyn Price said, "but (whether a child should drink carbonated beverages is) a conversation that needs to go on between parents and children."

Board member Tim Costello agreed and asked "whether it is our role as a school district and as a school board to make (these) choices."

"I would hope that the high school students we have can make ... those choices for themselves as to what they should do," he said.

Costello acknowledged the nationwide problem of obesity in children and suggested a compromise - selling 12-ounce cans of soda instead of 20-ounce bottles.

He also acknowledged that the high schools make significant money from vending machine sales, and asked about the financial impact the schools would feel if carbonated beverages were no longer sold in vending machines.

Leis said the district's consultant for its ongoing exclusive vending machine contract negotiations said to expect a 20 to 30 percent decrease in sales if the district stops offering soda in its machines.

But Leis suggested that the switch to Coca-Cola products that the district is likely to make may increase sales, even if carbonated beverages aren't sold. He also said that, compared to the district's last exclusive vending machine contract, Coca-Cola Enterprises is offering the district better guaranteed annual rights fees and sales commission rates, even if the district doesn't sell soda.

"If there was some drop off in sales, I still think the schools could well make as much money as they did in the past," Leis said.

Leis had at least one supporter on the school board. Board member Mike Davitt said he might reverse his stance on the issue in the wake of research the district present him regarding the subject.

"As we learn more, I think we have to act upon that," he said. "I think we have got good information to maybe change our minds about choice and limit it, and we should act upon that.

"I see the correlation between education and nutrition here."

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Pop ban could leave some Dist. 203 events thirsty for funds
Daily Herald, Naperville & Lisle, 09/22/2004
Kari Allen

As Naperville school officials consider a halt to selling soda during the day at their high schools, they also have to weigh what it could cost them.

Naperville Unit District 203 Superintendent Alan Leis is recommending the district, starting next school year, no longer sell beverages that contain high fructose corn syrup - such as pop - during the school day at Naperville Central and Naperville North.

The money the district receives from those sales, though, fund some school activities and special events, such as class picnics or the fireworks at last year's graduation ceremonies. Several officials question whether the lack of soda sales would deplete the funds.

That depends on how readily students would buy beverages such as juice and water, others say.

The district might be able to generate nearly as much revenue or more because of a proposed new vendor contract, Leis said. He recommended this week that the district switch from American Bottling Company to Coca-Cola Enterprises as its beverage vendor.

Even if the district saw a dip in beverage vending sales, the new contract might allow it to retain about the same revenue it gets now - as long as sales don't dip too low.

The district made $205,100 off beverage vending sales last school year. Under the Coca-Cola contract, if the beverage vending sales dropped 30 percent, the district would make $184,031. If sales drop 15 percent, the district would make $210,609.

Leis admits lost money would be hard for the schools to recoup.

Fund-raising might make up some of it, he said, but it would be tougher than just garnering the vending sales.

Leis, though, thinks it's important for the high schools to offer only healthier beverage choices during the school day.

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District 203 considering beverage contract, soda sales
Naperville Sun, 09/21/2004
Tim Waldorf

Naperville School District 203 may award its exclusive, five-year vending machine contract to Coca-Cola Enterprises, but it is also considering restricting the sale of carbonated soft drinks in vending machines used by high school students.

The District 203 school board took its first look at possible details in its vending machine contract during its meeting Monday. Those details were provided by D.D. Marketing, the consultant the district hired to negotiate the contract.

D.D. Marketing handled the district's previous vending contract with Dr Pepper/7-Up, which expired in June and has continued on a month-to-month basis since. The consultant submitted the district's request to three vendors, and, with input from the district staff, evaluated the responses. All the vendors solicited - Coca-Cola, Dr Pepper/7-Up and Pepsi - offered a complete line of carbonated soft drinks and non-carbonated soft drinks, including fruit juices, tea products, sports drinks and bottled waters.

D.D. Marketing recommended Coca-Cola because its proposal "has the highest value whether the district continues its current practices of allowing choice at the high school level only ... or whether the district restricts sales of carbonated soft drinks," read a memo to the District 203 school board from Allen Albus, assistant superintendent for finance.

The district requested that vendors submit proposals for both scenarios. If the district chooses to continue its vending practices of the past five years, the contract assumes the sale of 15,000 cases of vended products a year, 50 percent of which would be carbonated beverages. Bottled water would comprise 25 percent of those sales, as would juices and sports drinks.

Under this scenario, Coca-Cola Enterprises offered the district a plan that would generate an estimated $1,260,625 in revenues for the district over the course of the five-year contract.

If the district restricts the sale of carbonated beverages to after-school hours, sales volumes may vary. The five-year revenue projections under this scenario range from $1,185,935 if sales stay the same or $920,156 if they should drop by 30 percent.

District 203 Superintendent Alan Leis said the district's high school administrators "believe strongly in student choice."

"They believe that we educate students to make good nutritional choices. They believe in the data that is coming out of the P.E.4Life program," Leis said.

Leis said the data shows the district's high school students are not obese, but "healthy and active" students making "healthy lifestyle choices."

"I remain convinced that the best antidote for obesity in our young people is exercise," he said.

Still, Leis made a number of recommendations regarding the district's nutrition policy, including the removal of carbonated beverages from high school vending machines next school year.

"I do believe, however, that we need to begin reducing the unhealthy snacks that we sell and vend during the school day in our high schools," he said. "I think we have to have a goal of selling healthier snacks, selling milk, water, juices and beverages without high-fructose corn syrup during the school day, and I'd like us to have those in place for the start of the next school year."

Leis said postponing the policy change until next year will give the district time to step up its nutritional education efforts.

Leis asked the board to make its decision on both the carbonated beverage issue and the vending contract at next month's meeting. Some board members disagreed with the recommendation to restrict carbonated beverage sales.

"I have been outspoken in my criticism of nanny government ... and I would hate for our school board to become a nanny school board where we eliminate options," school board member Suzyn Price said.

She said she agrees with the proposed education effort, but held that food choices are decisions to be made between parents and children.

"I think it's overbearing for us to make those choices for them," she said.

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Dist. 203 considers pop ban
Daily Herald, Naperville & Lisle, 09/21/2004
Kari Allen

Naperville Central and Naperville North students who like to gulp a can of soda pop or two during the school day may have to bring their drinks from home next school year.

Or they could opt for something healthier, such as milk, juice or water.

Naperville Unit District 203 Superintendent Alan Leis recommended Monday the high schools no longer sell beverages that contain high fructose corn syrup - such as pop - during the school day, starting next school year.

High school students currently can purchase soda during the school day from vending machines or in the cafeteria food line. Leis is suggesting high fructose corn syrup beverages only be available next year at the high schools before and after school and on weekends during activities.

The school board is expected to vote on Leis' recommendation later this fall.

The topic is a controversial one in many school circles. As school leaders consider what to offer in vending machines, they weigh nutritional value versus students' freedom of choice.

Leis' recommendation already created a slight stir among school board members.

School board member Suzyn Price said beverage choices are something that should be left up to parents and their children.

"I think it's overbearing for us to make those choices for them," she said.

The recommendation to not sell pop during the school day also received a lukewarm response from District 203's two student ambassadors to the school board.

Allison Funkhouser, a Naperville Central junior, and David Simnick, a Naperville North junior, said many peers already opt for water and juice from school vending machines.

"Teenagers are making healthier choices, but we want that freedom of choice," Simnick said.

But Leis said some staff members and parents on a committee that studied the issue favor offering only healthier beverage choices during the school day. The superintendent agrees.

The committee garnered some student input, as well, Leis said.

If the changes go into effect next school year, high school students still could bring soda or other beverages with high fructose corn syrup from home. Seniors are allowed to eat off campus for lunch and could drink these types of beverages then if they choose, Leis said.

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