News

March 15, 2010

Soda dispute at W-B Area packs pop

Board member wants soda removed from student vending machines for health reasons, but others argue soda is healthy for coffers.

By Mark Guydish mguydish@timesleader.com
Education Reporter
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WILKES-BARRE – Wilkes-Barre Area School Board member Lynn Evans made what, in the age of school wellness policies, seemed like an obvious suggestion: Consider removing soda from vending machines accessed by students, providing healthier alternatives with less refined sugar.

But Board Members Joseph Moran and Philip Latinski balked, raising repeated concerns that such a switch would lead to serious loss of money the district has counted on for many years as a part of the “activities fund,” used to purchase a wide range of items for students.

“The district bought some of the first student computers with that money,” Moran said.

“And some white boards,” Latinski added.

The debate developed during last week’s work session. Latinski expressed concerns that there was no back-up plan to make up for any money that might be lost if soda were removed from school vending machines.

But Evans said she had contacted several districts where soda already disappeared from machines and, in the long run, they experienced little or no drop in sales. Some, Evans said, saw an initial dip in income, but it picked up to previous levels fairly quickly.

Latinski and Moran did not seem particularly mollified at the assurance, noting the activities fund – as in most districts – can go a long way in buying a wide range of things for students, from academic to athletic. The exact amount the machines produce was not available Thursday.

But a quick spot check with other local districts shows that Evans is right … and that Wilkes-Barre Area is seriously behind the curve on this issue.

Dallas Business Manager Grant Palfey said his district dropped soda from machines more than five years ago, and that there was a “slight decrease” in income from the machines, but that the district made up for the loss by offering “a la carte” offerings in the cafeteria that proved popular with students.

Greater Nanticoke Area Superintendent Tony Perrone said about three years ago his district took soda out of all machines except one by the gym available to the general public, and that there was no significant drop in sales. “Water is probably our biggest seller,” he said.

At Crestwood, Superintendent Dave McLaughlin-Smith said soda was removed from machines three or four years ago, and, like Greater Nanticoke Area, the district saw no substantial decline in student spending. Crestwood students “evidently have been water drinkers for a long time,” he wrote in an e-mail.

Northwest Area Superintendent Nancy Tkatch said the district took soda out of the equation around 2004, and saw no change in income from vending machines.

Most districts stepped away from the soda side of vending after the federal government reauthorized the Child Nutrition and WIC act in 2005. The act mandated all districts adopt a wellness policy by July 1, 2006. Broadly speaking, a policy had to include four components: non-competitive and all-inclusive physical education; nutritional education in all areas of academics; physical activity in all grades; and improvement of nutritional value for all foods offered in a school.

Cutting soda seemed like an easy way to help fulfill that last component.

In fact, when Dallas debated its wellness policy, it was cupcakes and cookies that drew concerns. Some board member worried the proposed policy was too restrictive, and would ban the traditional and popular snacks from the occasional class party.

While the elimination of soda from machines serving students seemed easy enough for most other districts, it has pretty consistently proven to be the exception to the old saw, “What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.”

When Evans proposed removing soda, she offered an exclusion: Vending machines in teacher lounges could still carry the carbonated sweet drinks, though teachers would be barred from removing such drinks from the lounge.

Turns out this has been the case in most districts contacted by The Times Leader.

Mark Guydish, a Times Leader staff writer, can be reached at 829-7161

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