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Good afternoon, everybody, this is Debbie Nigri and we're thrilled to present to you
today this highly anticipated webinar on Local School Wellness policies. I am Debbie Nigri,
a nutritionist in the Child Nutrition Division, and I'm co-presenting with Erika Pijai, and
she'll be presenting later on, but I just wanted to remind you that we'll be taking
questions at the end. There are two ways to ask questions. You can use the Q&A tab through
the live meeting portal to ask the questions and we'll come around to those at the end
of the presentation; or you can also ask the operator in the call-in, you can ask the operator
to ask a question. So let's go ahead and get started and also we have already gotten a
question on the live meeting portal asking if this PowerPoint presentation will be available
on the partner web. Just so you know, we will be posting the actual webcast on the partner
web; however, we won't be posting the PowerPoint until it becomes an implementing regulation
and then we can actually post the PowerPoint presentation for you to use as an educational
tool. But at this point, while it's still a proposed rule, we will not be posting those
slides. Okay, so let's go ahead and get started on the presentation. Okay, so the presentation
outline for today, we're going to give a little bit of background on the Local Wellness Policy,
talk about the Wellness Policy team, Local Wellness Policy requirements, policies for
marketing. We're going to talk about the review and transparency provisions, implementation
and support and of course next steps.The schools play a critical role in promoting student
health, preventing childhood obesity and combating problems associated with poor nutrition and
physical inactivity, so to encourage this role as we are all aware Section 204 of the
Childhood Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004 required each LEA, the local educational
agency, participating in the National School Lunch program and/or the School Breakfast
program to establish a local school wellness policy by the school year 2006. The 2004 legislation
placed the responsibility for developing a local school wellness policy at the local
level, so that the unique needs of each school under the jurisdiction of the local educational
agency could be addressed. Each LEA was required to establish a local school wellness policy
that set goals for nutrition education, physical activity, and other school-based activities
designed to promote student wellness and include nutrition guidelines for all foods available
on the school campus during the school day. Additionally, LEAs were required to involve
a broad group of individuals in the development of the local school wellness policy and to
have a plan for measuring wellness policy implementation. Subsequently, Section 204
added a new Section 9A to the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, which expands the
scope of wellness policies even further and it brings additional stakeholders into the
development, implementation and review of local school wellness policies and requires
public updates on the content and implementation of the wellness policies. Just to give a little
bit of statistical background here, by 2010 to 2011, the school year, 99% of students
in public schools were enrolled in a district that had a wellness policy in place. And although
there was considerable variability in policy strength, they did have those policies in
place. And as documented in the Bridging the Gap study, there is substantial variability
in local wellness policies in the strength of those policies and in policy enforcement,
meaning that not all school children are benefitting from the policies in their school. For the
first time the proposed rule would strengthen the requirements for the local school wellness
policies and put more emphasis on policy implementation. Under the proposed rule LEAs and schools are
encourage to identify specific measurable objectives with attention to both long-term
and short-term goals. I also really want to highlight here that the intention of this
rule is to provide transparency to the public on the school nutrition environment. The title
of the proposed rule is Local School Wellness Policy Implementation under the Healthy Hunger-Free
Kids Act of 2010 and the rule was published on February 26, 2014 and the comment period
ends April 28, 2014. And again, I want to highlight this is a proposed rule. In 2010
when Congress passed the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act new provisions were added for local
school wellness policies related to implementation, evaluation and publicly reporting on the progress
of local school wellness policies. This rule establishes a proposed framework and guidelines
for local educational agencies to establish local school wellness policies, so let me
clarify that we're not requiring the LEAs make any changes related to this proposed
rule until we publish an implementing regulation. But we recommend that LEAs continue to review
and update their wellness policies to meet the requirements stated in the Healthy Hunger-Free
Kids Act of 2010. And because this is a proposed rule, I just want to remind you that we're
limited in what we can discuss. Questions beyond the content of the proposed rule need
to be addressed through the public comment process. And because local wellness policies
are already in place, we have highlighted in this presentation where the new proposed
updates appear, so you can look out for the orange bolded new, the word new, to find the
new proposed updates like on this next slide. First and foremost, under the proposed rule
each LEA would be required to establish local school wellness policy leadership; for example,
one or more LEA or school official who fully understands local school wellness policy requirements
of the National School Lunch Act, just someone who can facilitate the development and updates
of the local school wellness policy and who has the authority and responsibility to ensure
that each school complies with the policy. Once members of the local school wellness
policy team are identified and established in writing in a local wellness policy, the
LEA is encouraged to make available to the public and school community a list of names
and position titles of individuals who are part of the school wellness policy team, as
well as the name, position title and contact information of the lead individuals or coordinators
for the LEA and for each school as applicable. Once leadership is identified the next step
would be to establish a diverse team made up of committed school and community stakeholders
to assess LEA's needs and develop a policy that both meets operational realities of the
LEA and works towards improved health and wellness outcomes for schoolchildren. This
team may be part of an existing group within LEA, such as a health and wellness committee,
coordinated school health council or other advisory group. While the statute and proposed
regulations identifies specific categories of stakeholders that must be permitted to
participate, LEAs have discretion in exactly how they implement this requirement. For example,
there may not be enough individuals in each category of stakeholders within a school community
or they just simply may not be willing to participate. On the other hand, it may not
be possible for an LEA to permit every interested individual in a particular category to participate,
so it may be the case where there are additional categories of stakeholders within a school
community that the LEA would like to include on the local wellness policy team. However,
in convening the local wellness school policy team, LEAs are expected to actively seek members
for this local school wellness policy team that represent each of the categories described
in the statute and to the best of their ability allow them to participate. There are a variety
of individuals that you can consider when seeking the right combination of representatives.
For example, school health professionals may include school health service staff, such
as nurses, physicians, dentists, or health educators; possibly mental health and social
service staff, such as a school counselor. The general public might include a local dietician,
a physician, a medical professional or a health care professional. Those are just some examples.
Let's move on to the actual requirements in the Local Wellness Policy. Under the proposed
rule LEAs would also be required to review and consider evidenced-based strategies and
techniques in establishing goals for nutrition promotion and education, physical activity
and other school based activities that promote student wellness. Evidence-based strategies
have been evaluated rigorously in experimental or quasi-experimental studies. It's also essential
that the evaluations themselves have been subject to critical peer review; that is experts
in the field, not just the people who developed and evaluated the program, have examined the
evaluation's methods and agreed with its conclusions about the program's effect. So evidence-based
practices often have evaluation findings that are published in peer reviewed scientific
journals. So at a minimum USDA would expect LEAs to review and consider smarter lunchroom
tools and strategies, which are evidence-based, simple, low cost and no cost changes that
are shown to improve student participation in the National School Lunch Program and School
Breakfast Program, while encouraging consumption of more whole grains, fruits, vegetables and
legumes and decreasing plate waste. We have listed here the web address SmarterLunchRooms.org.
Some example include using creative names for fruits and vegetables in targeted entrées,
training staff to promote students to select fruits and vegetables, placing unflavored
milk in front of other beverage choices, bundling grab and go meals that include fruit and vegetable
items. These types of evidence-based examples have all been shown to improve the likelihood
that children will make the healthier choice. As we discussed, LEAs already have local school
wellness policies in place and these should currently include goals for nutrition education.
The proposed rule would require schools to add goals for nutrition promotion. Nutrition
promotion actually gives students the opportunity to choose healthy nutrition choices. It also
enhances and encourages participation in school meal programs and incorporates the marketing
and advertising of food. Nutrition education simply teaches students which foods are nutritious,
but nutrition promotion and nutrition education together is the real key here, nudging students
to consume healthier options. For example, a local school wellness policy related to
nutrition promotion might include activities, such as providing developmentally appropriate
and culturally relevant participatory activities, such as contests, surveys, promotions, food
demonstrations and taste testing, possibly voting for school meal ... names, cafeteria
design or decor changes or challenges, farm visits and school gardens and offering information
to families that encourages them to teach their children about health and nutrition
and assist them in planning nutritious meals for their families; for example, hand-outs,
newsletters, parent/teacher association or organization updates, website postings, presentation
or work groups. Another example might be including nutrition and health posters, signage or displays
in the cafeteria, the food service area or dining area or the classrooms, hallways, gymnasiums
or bulletin boards that are frequently rotated, updated or changed. So on the other hand,
nutrition education might include activities, such as including nutrition education as part
of the health education classes or standalone courses for all grade levels, including curricula
that promotes skilled development, such as meal planning, recognizing food groups within
a meal or understanding health information about a food and food labels to evaluate the
nutrient quality and contribution of foods. Another example might be integrating nutrition
education into other core subjects, such as math, science, language arts, and social sciences,
as well as in the non-core and elective subjects. So physical activity is not a new requirement;
however, updates to the policy may need to be made to ensure that the goals for physical
activity are evidence-based. Examples might include for physical activity the amount and
frequency requirements; for example, days per week of physical activity or minutes per
day per week of physical activity; student fitness assessments and reporting to parents;
or policies on adaptive activities for students with physical limitations. The proposed rule
does not change existing requirement for local wellness policies to include goals for other
school-based activities that promote student wellness. An LEA can take a coordinated approach
to developing and implementing a wellness policy by addressing nutrition and physical
activity through health education, including tobacco, alcohol, and other substance abuse
prevention. Physical education, school nutrition services, the physical environment, employee
wellness, family engagement, community involvement, health services and counseling, psychological
and socials services, these are all different examples of other school-based activities.
We encourage LEAs to include many activities to support a healthy school environment in
their wellness policies, so LEAs could apply for that Healthier U.S. School Challenge if
they haven't already, offer staff wellness training to inspire them to serve as role
models, sponsor health fairs, or incorporate school gardens or farm to school. The National
School Lunch Act requires that the local school wellness policy include nutrition standards
for all other foods available on campus. In addition, wellness policies must be consistent
with the meal pattern regulations and the smart snack regulations. Of course, this consistency
is not a new component of the policies, but again, updates might be needed to be made
in order to comply with updated meal standards and the new smart snacks interim rule. To
help LEAs reflect the standards we will develop a standardized statement for use by LEAs indicating
their status of compliance with both the school meal standards and the smart snack standards
to share with the public. This also includes all other food brought to school; for example,
parties, rewards, classroom snacks and incentives. So at this point I'm going to go ahead and
turn the presentation over to Erika to continue talking specifically right now about policies
for marketing. Okay, thank you, Debbie, and thank you everyone especially for all you're
doing out there in terms of creating a healthier environment in schools. I know it's not an
easy job, but it's most certainly a very important job. Just a little housekeeping reminder,
if you have any questions, feel free to type it in in the Q&A tab up at the top of your
screen, or you can have questions on the phone later on during this webinar. So let me continue
on with the provisions of the rule. So the rule proposes that local educational agencies
would be required to include policies that allow marketing or advertising of only those
foods and beverages that are consistent with the standard. In other words, those foods
and beverages that meet the requirements set forth in the smart snack interim rule, which
go in effect July 1st of this year. The new standards will mirror the smart snacks guidelines
by only affecting foods and beverages marketed on the school campus during the school day.
These marketing policies would not apply to marketing that occurs at events outside of
school hours, such as at after school events or other activities. And, of course, to help
us clarify how we would apply these marketing policies, we're really interested in receiving
public comments, specifically on this proposed marketing requirement. We're requesting public
comments on the proposed requirements that local wellness policies must include policies
that would permit the marketing of only those foods and beverages that are consistent with
the smart snack nutrition standards to inform the development of the interim or final rule
and help clarify how these marketing policies would apply in the school setting. We're also
seeking comment on the definition of food marketing, which we say in the proposed rule
is commonly includes oral, written or graphic statements made for the purpose of promoting
the sale of a food or beverage made by the producer, manufacturer, seller or any other
entity with a commercial interest in the product. So you might be wondering what is marketing
and where does it occur on the school campus. Here are some examples. The marketing of products
on the exterior of vending machines through posters, menu boards, coolers, trash cans
and other food service equipment, as well as cup use for beverage dispensing would all
be subject to these policies. As I mentioned before, these policies would not apply to
marketing that occurs at events outside of school hours, such as at after school sporting
events or other activities, but they could at the local educational agency's discretion.
This proposal is not intended to establish limits on personal expression or opinion.
For example, it's not intended that this proposed rule would apply to clothing or personal items
used by students or staff or the packaging of products brought from home for personal
consumption. It's also not intended to apply to materials used for educational purposes
in the classroom, such as teacher's use of soda advertisements as a media education tool,
nor would a local educational agency be limited in implementing a health or nutrition education
curriculum that favors the consumption of some foods over others. For example, there
are a lot of curricula out there, so for example it would not apply to a curriculum that favors
that consumption of dairy versus dairy free alternatives, or one that favors a vegetarian
diet versus an animal protein food diet. So now let's take a look at the provisions in
the proposed rule for transparency and review of the wellness policy. Under the proposed
rule local educational agencies are required to inform and update the public, including
parents, students and others, about the content and implementation of the local school wellness
policy. Any updates to the policy must be made available to the public on an annual
basis at a minimum and to accomplish this, local educational agencies might post the
wellness policy on the school or the district website and send a message to families notifying
them of how they might get a copy of the policy or access the policy; or an LEA might send
a summary report directly home to parents or even present the information during a meeting
with the PTA or PTO. The point is that LEAs make an effort to inform the public. This
rule also proposes that local educational agencies develop local school wellness policy
annual progress reports that describe a summary of each school's events or activities related
to the wellness policy implementation in the extent that schools are in compliance with
their wellness policy. While the proposal allows LEAs a choice on how to communicate
this information, one suggestion is to create a school wellness report card that details
a school or LEA's progress in various areas in support of the wellness policy and this
can be folded into other annual school or district or LEA report card type reports that
are available to the public. Other ideas for annual progress reports might include a school
wellness presentation or published news release that reports the finding of the school or
LEA's progress in support of the wellness policy. The proposed rule also specifies what
the annual progress report would be required to include. That at a minimum includes the
website address for the wellness policy and how the public can access a copy of it; a
description of each school's progress in meeting the wellness policy goal; a summary of each
school's events or activities related to wellness policy implementation; and contact information
for the designated local educational agency official or school official that's coordinating
the wellness policy team or health advisory council and also information on how individuals
and the public can get involved with the school wellness policy team. The annual progress
report can be written in any format that the local educational agency chooses as long as
it's written in an accessible and easily understood manner and covers the required elements. Examples
include a summary report to parents, a presentation at a stakeholder meeting or a PTA meeting,
or a news release to the local media. The rule proposes to require an assessment of
the wellness policy to be conducted every three years at a minimum. The results of the
assessment would be required to be made available to the public and this assessment should determine
compliance with the wellness policy, how the wellness policy compares to model wellness
policies and progress made in attaining the goals of the local school wellness policy.
Really, these requirements are intended to provide greater transparency to the public
on school wellness policy content and implementation. We all know that as community needs change
as goal are met and as new health science information and technology emerges, it's really
important for our local educational agencies to assess the local school wellness policy
and update it appropriately. The proposed rule requires that local educational agencies
update or modify the local school wellness policies as they see appropriate. However,
we have not specified the frequency of updates to the wellness policies as we recognize the
need to update it will vary based on the content and structure of the plan or maybe what the
LEA has going on. So, for example, a comprehensive plan that establishes benchmarks towards a
measurable goal over a course of several years may not need frequent updates, while other
plans may need to be revisited more frequently. The local school wellness policy team and
leadership can be assets in determining when these policy updates are needed. Something
that you're all familiar with, state agencies conduct a administrative review of local educational
agencies at least once every three years and the proposed rule would require state agencies
to assess compliance with the local school wellness policy requirements as part of the
general areas of the administrative review. Now let's talk about implementation and support.
Local educational agencies and districts are required to have wellness policies in place
as of school year 2006/2007, and what they can be doing now is continue to review and
update their wellness policies to meet the new requirement and continue will wellness
policy implementation, periodic review and updates to the public as these are requirements
stated in the law, the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act. And so we are also very, very appreciative
of state agencies, you guys play such an important role in what you to do support the local educational
agencies. The state agencies should continue to provide technical assistance and guidance
to local educational agencies and also continue to identify and revise any model wellness
policies and tools that you may have. As a reminder, this is a proposed rule, so therefore
the new requirements are not in effect at this time. However, we encourage schools to
begin reviewing their policies now and working towards implementation. We're also working
with the Department of Health and Human Services acting through the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, or CDC, as well as the Department of Education to provide technical assistance
to local educational agencies, school food authorities and state educational agencies.
The wellness policy interagency work group came together shortly after the Healthy Hunger-Free
Kids Act was signed and we will continue to provide technical assistance and guidance,
ultimately to help districts meet the wellness policy requirements and establish healthy
school environments that are intended to promote student health and wellness. To help determine
what technical assistance needs were at the local level, our work group conducted various
needs assessment activities. We synthesized the findings from the needs assessment activities
to update and publish our five year technical assistance and guidance plan, which you can
find on the FNF website URL that you see here on the screen. In this plan we've identified
and communicated the goals, objectives and specific activities the ... technical assistant
effort, and we summarized the findings from the needs assessment activities. This next
piece is something that we're very excited about. Recently in January of this year the
interagency work group, along with 26 national associations and organizations, issued a collaborator's
joint statement on wellness policies to recognize the important role schools play in promoting
wellness amongst staff, students and families, so check out the link that you see here, the
very last link, to see which national organizations have joined us in voicing their support. And
lastly, we will continue to provide technical assistance on the topic of wellness policies.
Debbie, can you click my next slide? My screen is frozen. Okay, thank you.So there are a
ton of resources out there for everything school wellness related; nutrition education
materials, physical activity ideas, creating wellness policies, engaging the school community
in wellness effort and the list goes on, so where do you start? This is something really
exciting that I'm really excited about. In January of this year we launched a new website
that consolidates school wellness policies in a way that makes them easier for you to
find; and it's sort of a one stop shopping website, if you will. Definitely check out
the link here you see at the bottom. It's called the School Nutrition Environment and
Wellness Resources website. There's a ton of information and resources on the school
wellness policy process, steps to put the policy into action, wellness policy elements
to meet the federal requirements for each of these elements. There's information and
resources on the healthy school nutrition environment, the latest on food and physical
activity. There are also sample stories and guidance ideas for schools, meaning there
are examples of model policies and guidance and success stories, so definitely check that
out. There's also a research reports on school wellness topics and grant funding opportunities
related to child nutrition and physical activity, so definitely check out the link there. The
site is housed on the USDA's national agricultural library's healthy meals resource system website,
which is the training and technical assistance arm on teen nutrition. Just so you have it
in one handy place, here are some key websites to visit. The first link there is the USDA
wellness policy website. You can visit there for the latest wellness policy related information.
The second link has the teen nutrition resource library. There are free resources for your
school, so there's classroom nutrition education lessons and curricula for first through eighth
grade, colorful nutrition promotion posters and video and communication tools to help
districts and schools engage the school community and wellness effort. If you're looking for
delicious and healthy kid approved recipes for schools or at home, check out the new
cookbooks. I love them. I think you will, too, if you haven't seen them yet. All of
these materials are free, free, free for schools. The third link is USDA's My Plate materials.
That website has some great tools and resources, too, including the super tracker to track
food and physical activity. There's a brand new my recipe feature and also a new resource
online called My Plate Kids Plate, so check those out at ChooseMyPlate.gov. Lastly you
can see the link to the CDC website. They have some fabulous resources on competitive
foods, physical activity and PE, engaging parents in school wellness activities and
also some fantastic assessment tools including the school health index, which is helpful
for school wellness teams. And as I've mentioned before, we'll continue to identify and develop
technical assistance resources to help local educational agencies with the wellness policy
process. That was a handful, so what are the next steps? We've covered a lot of information
really quickly today and we recommend your next step to be if you haven't already to
review the actual proposed regulations. There are a couple ways to do this. You can visit
Regulations.gov and do a search for the wellness policy regulation by its formal title, or
better yet visit the FNF web page that you see here at the bottom of the screen. On this
web page you'll a link to the PDF of the proposed rule, the White House press release, links
to the wellness policy resources website and more information as well as a direct link
to comment on the proposed rule, which will lead you to the Federal Register page. You
definitely want to copy down this website and visit it right away, so I'll give you
a few moments to do that. Definitely, definitely check it out. Remember this is your chance
to weigh in now. We're seeking comments on the proposed rule. There is a formal 60 day
comment period that is open through April 28th. Feedback from students, parents, school
food staff, school administrators, state agencies and other interested parties, it's really
important as part of the rulemaking process, so definitely spread the word that it's open
for comment at the moment. Commenters can comment online at Regulations.gov or by mail.
If you are submitting your comments online, you can visit Regulations.gov. Search for
the proposed rule by typing in the docket ID number, which is FNF20140010 or you can
search it by the formal title or again if you want to skip all that, the direct link
to comment on the wellness policy proposed rule is on the website I mentioned to you
earlier that hopefully you copied down, great website. Then our next step as USDA are threefold.
We will be carefully reviewing every single comment that gets submitted and we will consider
public comments when developing the implementing rule for wellness policies and, of course,
and I've said this so many times, we'll continue to identify and develop technical assistance
materials to help support all of you as state agencies, local educational agencies to implement
the wellness policy requirement. So now before we open it up for questions and answers, I
want to conclude this presentation portion of the webinar to say that we're really excited
about the proposed rule and the food marketing standards and wellness policies, everything;
so these standards really echo the great work that's already taking place in schools across
the country and ensure that schools remain a health place where children can learn and
where food and beverage marketing promote nutritious options. We are committed to working
closely with you to help implement the new guidelines and make the healthy choice the
easy choice for America's children. We really look forward to reading your comments on the
proposed rule at Regulations.gov or by mail. So thank you very much for listening in and
we are going to open up the lines for questions and answers. If you'd rather type in your
questions, the Q&A tab up at the top is an option as well. Otherwise we will open up
the line. Lois, can you— Sure. (Instructions given.) We have a question from Robin Zeigler.
Please state your company. With Maryland State Department of Education. I'm just wondering
there was no discussion about how this could be rolled out, what's the thinking, proposed
interim, date? This is a proposed rule, so we will be accepting comments through April
28th and depending on the type of comments we would get, we would come up with an implementing
rule. Whether it's an interim rule or a final rule, we haven't made that determination yet;
and at this time we are basically saying local educational agencies should be reviewing their
wellness policies and working towards what's stated in the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act
and not necessarily what's in the proposed rule. It's still a proposed rule. Right, I
just wondered if you had a timeline you had in mind. No, we don't have a particular timeline
in mind. Okay, thank you. You're welcome. There are no questions on the phone lines.
Okay, there is a question on the live meeting site to ask us to go back to the slide with
the resources from CDC, so I'll go ahead and go back to that slide. And then there was
another question, a good question regarding RCCIs. "How do you see this working in RCIIs?
They are limited in curriculum and have some no parents involved with their children after
they're incarcerated. They do offer physical activity and track height and weight when
they enter and leave the facility. Would you want that posted to an RCCI website?" These
are really, really good questions. I think this is the type of subject that would be
best addressed in a comment. If you have a particular stance on this, I think this would
be a really good area to address in a comment to us during the comment period. There is
another question about, let me read it real quick. "We've gotten no posters applied to
the new proposed rule regarding marketing. What about if you have to place 60 posters
that focus on marketing milk through the Midwest Dairy Council?" So as I mentioned before ,the
proposed rule is not intended to establish limits on the type of materials that are used
for educational purposes in the classroom or in the cafeteria areas in the school, so
these standards would not necessarily apply to these types of posters. However, if you
have an idea or comment about this, we certainly do encourage comment through the formal comment
process. There's another question, "How do you anticipate child nutrition program authority
having teeth over vending, fundraising, etc. that they do not provide, such as PTO clubs,
etc.? Will there be fiscal action?" This is definitely I think more regarding the smart
snack regulation. I would definitely refer to that regulation regarding any fiscal action.
That's definitely a state decision, but yes, it is possible that there could be fiscal
action, so to me that's more of a smart snack question, the authority over vending and fundraising.
One more question I had addressed in the beginning, but I just got word about the PowerPoint from
this presentation, we will be posting to Partner Web the PDF of the presentation, so you can
reference that. Are there any more questions from the line? (Instructions given.) There
are no questions on the phone lines. There's one more question through the live meeting.
"Please clarify the comment made by the first presenter about parties, snacks, food brought
from home. It was right after the slide on smarter lunchrooms." I can definitely do that.
That is regarding all foods that are provided in schools that the local wellness policy
is required to address, not only smart snacks and any lunch programs, but also all other
foods brought into the schools, such as parties, rewards, so we certainly expect that the local
wellness policy will address all of those other foods. That's actually a requirement
by the law. There's another question about, "Do you intend to provide any sample tools
to assess implementation of wellness policies?" We actually have some tools up now on the
school nutrition environment and wellness resources' website link. Do I have it up here?
No, let me flip to that slide, so you can copy down that URL, but there are definitely
some examples of assessment tools up there, so definitely check those out to start. We
will probably be identifying more tools as time goes on and we begin to implement. Let
me flip to this slide, there we go, so the URL is there for the website. (Instructions
given.) There are no questions on the phone lines. There is another question about, "Based
on the current thinking, would flyers, order forms, etc., for non-compliant items that
are distributed to students during the school day be considered marketing?" So basically
we're saying that marketing, I guess we can't really be specific in our answer here, but
based on the definition we would welcome comments, especially on this marketing piece. And there's
one other question, "Can an LEA write broader goals in their wellness policy and then indicate
more specific measurable objectives in an implementation plan, or is it recommended
that LEAs write goals and measurable objectives directly into their wellness policy?" Let
me just address that one right now. That's very specific and a very good question, and
again, I think that's something that if you have very specific opinion on that, you might
want to write that into a comment during the open comment period. I definitely think that
that's a really interesting concept that we could take into consideration. And again,
there are local educational agencies, they have discretion on how they want to create
their wellness policies, so we definitely, as Debbie said, we definitely want to hear
people's comments on that issue. That's it from the tool, I believe, the webinar Q&A.
Are there any questions from the phone lines? At this point there are no questions on the
phone lines. Okay. I just want to make sure we addressed everything; I think we did. Okay,
so if there are no further questions, that's pretty much it for the webinar. Thank you,
everyone, for participating and for being wellness policy champions out there in whatever
state you're in or region you're in. Thank you so much, and again please remember to
review the rule and comment through this formal comment process. We're really interested in
hearing comments and we will be reading every single one. And again, for anyone who's missed
the conference this webinar, if anyone in your offices that might have missed it, there's
another webinar on local wellness policy scheduled for tomorrow at 2 o'clock eastern standard
time, so anyone who needs to listen in again or missed it can certainly join in. Thank
you, everyone.