NEWBURYPORT — No more Halloween candy bars in the lunch box, cupcake parties to celebrate birthdays, or a lollipop to reward a good job.
The Newburyport school system has officially moved toward ridding its schools of sweets.
Last week, the School Committee voted to accept the terms of a recently drafted wellness policy, meaning schools within the district must adhere to a no candy, no sticky sweet treat policy — one of several steps being taken to improve nutrition and fitness levels of area students.
Superintendent Kevin Lyons said the new policy was drafted to keep pace with new federal government guidelines requiring that nutritional wellness plans be implemented in public schools. Those plans should require goal-setting procedures, school meal guidelines, implementation monitoring and a program for community involvement, Lyons said. And the wellness policy should raise awareness and seek to combat the troubling increase in childhood onset diabetes — a well documented facet of an overall trend of deteriorating health among American youth.
"The purpose of a wellness policy is to guide the direction of Newburyport public schools, to a community at large that enjoys higher levels of wellness," Lyons said to the committee.
Under the new plan, the school will encourage milk, fresh fruit, vegetables and 100 percent juices, and push whole grain products and healthy foods listed on the Massachusetts a la carte food and beverage standards list.
Celebrations that once featured frosted cupcakes and other sweets will now feature activities rather than food, and parents and teachers will have to adjust to a "no sweet" reward system.
"Staff may not provide candy to students under any circumstances," according to the new policy laid on the district schools Web site.
Under the new plan, certain foods, such as full fat dairy products, pies and doughnuts, will be allowed on a limited basis. Parties and celebrations where such foods are typically featured will also be limited, as well as home prepared foods coming to school without a specific ingredients list.
"These guidelines have been introduced at the staff level already this year," Lyons said.
The policy officially went into effect last week, but Lyons told the committee he expects the district will need some time to adjust to the new policy, and efforts to educate parents will be ramped up in the coming weeks with a goal of full implementation by the first of the year.
"There's going to be an increase in terms of the education of parents and how foods are going to be limited," Lyons said.
Also included in the wellness policy is a component addressing students who engage in destructive behaviors, such as underage drinking, using information gathered by Newburyport Youth Services on the topic, Lyons said. Lyons sees that criteria equally as relevant to students' health as healthy eating habits and physical fitness.
"The schools want to take leadership with this, and that's why it's on the policy," Lyons said.
Lyons also laid out plans to appoint a new health and wellness advisory council, which he said will conduct annual reviews of how the program is working and report directly back to him with its findings. The council will be made up of parents, administrators, school nursing staff, teachers, one School Committee member, a Beacon Coalition representative, the Food Services Director, a representative from Anna Jaques Hosptial and the school physician.
CANDY BAN
Under a new policy in Newburyport schools, the following foods will be banned or limited:
Banned
Candy
"Sticky" sweets
Soda
Limited
Cake
Cupcakes
Full fat dairy products
Cookies
Ice cream
Pies
Doughnuts
Accepted and encouraged
Low fat and non-fat milk
100 percent juices
Whole grain foods
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