Subject: Fwd: FW: January 15th Board Meeting

SAN JUAN SCHOOL BOARD COMMERCIALISM STUDY SESSION
Wednesday, January 15, 7:00-9:00 p.m. in the high school library.

Pass It On.

If you have an opinion on commercialism in the San Juan Schools this is your chance to speak up.

This is the text of the letter sent by the School Board to the Journal on this subject:

What are the issues and opportunities with regard to commercialism in San Juan Public Schools? What is the school district's responsibility with respect to promoting healthy lifestyles, good nutrition, and fitness in a commercial society? What should be the balance between the presence of commercialism in schools and learning to understand commercialism in order to make good choices? Should school districts form business partnerships that provide funding for educational programs? These and other questions will be discussed at a special School Board Study Session scheduled on January 15th, 7:00-9:00 p.m. in the high school library. Students, parents, and community members are invited to join the school board and administrators in table discussions about this issue.

At the October 30th school board meeting several community members voiced concerns about potential effects of commercialism in schools such as poor nutrition, health problems due to obesity, and influential advertising to a captive student audience. State Essential Learning Standards for Health and Fitness require students to "...understand the relationship of nutrition to physical performance", "... acquire the skills to live safely and reduce health risks", and "...gather and analyze health information to make healthy life choices". The community shares a common interest in developing healthy, independent youth who learn how to make good choices. Our challenge is to provide a safe and effective learning environment to develop these essential skills. At the same time, we must obtain adequate revenue from both public and private sources to fund our curricular and co-curricular programs. Is it reasonable for the school district, for instance, to have a contract with Coca Cola for vending machines that annually fund $5,000 - $10,000 for educational programs? What should be the balance between access to certain products and education about commercialism, healthy life choices, and decision making?

We are looking forward to your participation in this important discussion.

Michael Soltman, Superintendent
Boyd Pratt, Board Chair