Seattle School Board
Policy and Legislative (PAL) Committee

Date/Time: June 3, 2003
9:30 a.m.

Location: School Board Office

Board: Jan Kumasaka, Chair
Barbara Peterson
Nancy Waldman (sitting in for Barbara Schaad-Lamphere)

I. Coke Contract
In order to obtain feedback, middle school principals were notified that the PAL Committee is reviewing the Coke contract and considering recommending one of the following options to the full Board:

_ At the middle school level, no sales of carbonated soft drinks (CSDs) during school hours. Vending machine offerings during school hours would be limited to water, fruit juices, and possibly milk. (Note: To be considered a fruit juice, a beverage must contain 50% or more fruit juice.)

or

_ At the middle school level, no sales of carbonated soft drinks at all.

At this time, the responses to this e-mail were reviewed. Seven middle school principals were against either proposal stating that the revenue generated from the vending machine sales funded many student activities. Two of the principals stated that they could go either way--that the machines did generate revenue for school activities but in the interest of healthier kids, they could do without CSD sales. One principal stated that her school is already CSD-free. One principal (TOPS) noted that her school is vending machine-free with the exception of the machine located in the teacher's lounge. She commented, however, that the revenue generated by this machine is used for student activities--not staff activities. There was also an e-mail from Colleen Oliver, Middle School Education Director, making a plea to allow middle schools to continue to sell CSDs in their vending machines (if they so choose) until some other "reasonable" way could be found to make up the loss of this money.

The PAL Committee decided to recommend renewing the Coke contract with the following modifications:

_ Middle and High Schools: Require at least three out of the nine slots, in each machine--or one-third of the slots in side-by-side machines--to be water or other non-CSD beverages.

_ Middle Schools: During lunch, turn off CSD machines located in lunchrooms.

_ Middle Schools: Commencing with the 2005-06 school year, no CSDs will be available to students during school hours. Dir. Kumasaka will share these recommendations with her colleagues, prior to introduction of the motion to renew the Coke contract, on June 18th