With a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Faribault Public Schools is developing additional health and wellness goals and resources for students and staff.
The district was among 20 entities chosen for the Healthy Schools program nationwide. The Minnesota Department of Education was a recipient of the nearly $100,000 in funding and chose the district as its implementation partner.
The program utilizes the CDC’s Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child model, with students at the center but the role of community members, family members and teachers in supporting those students is also stressed.
Backed by the resources of the CDC, Faribault Public Schools has already started implementing the grant by measuring where it is at today in its School Health Index. The data will provide context as goals and long-term action plans are developed.
The survey found promoting wellness is a priority at most of the district’s buildings. Other items regularly described as priority areas include increasing access to fresh fruit and health care-services for students and increasing community involvement in school activities.
The district will continue to monitor data and implementation of objectives identified through the five-year grant.
The latest assessment shows that the district has a long ways to go before it can truly count any of six key areas as an area of strength by national standards.
The data does seem to show that policies implemented by Faribault Public Schools have made some progress in implementing nutritional standards and education, but its policies are behind the curve in the areas of promoting physical education activity and marketing.
Finance Director Scott Gerdes expressed optimism that under the leadership of Behavioral Health Coordinator Janet Lewis Muth, significant progress will be made in these areas, with the help of goals and long-term action plans as they are developed.
For next school year, three priorities have been identified: increasing physical activity at all levels, establishing compliance on food for celebrations or fundraisers, and setting caffeine-conscious guidelines for snacks students bring to class.
Lewis Muth said the approach across the district will be flexible, enabling each building to focus on unique wellness initiatives indentified based on survey results.
Asked by board member Lynda Boudreau about potential flexibility in the nutrition side of the program, Lewis Muth said the focus would be on regulating food consumed during the school day, excluding concessions and other food sold as a part of special events.
Board Vice Chair Chad Wolff expressed concern about the apparent failure of district policies to promote physical fitness. Lewis Muth said that while Faribault Public Schools has a strong physical education program, few policies set expectations for the program at the district level.
“This tool we utilized for this process is really just about evaluating our policy,” Lewis Muth said. “We want to explore what physical activity minutes should be.”
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